Apple Inc’s iPhone is likely to hit more stores in Taiwan later this year, after two major telecom operators said yesterday they had signed sales agreements with the Cupertino, California-based company.
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-biggest telecom operator, said it had signed a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone 3G and 3GS models in Taiwan
The company “will launch iPhones over the next few months,” Taiwan Mobile said in a statement, without giving an exact date.
Taiwan Mobile has not set charges for iPhone services, a company official said by telephone, asking not to be named.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信), the nation’s third-largest telecom operator, said it had also reached an agreement with Apple.
However, like Taiwan Mobile, Far EasTone has not finalized a launch date and service charges for Apple’s iconic smartphone, saying only “it would reach consumers sometime in the near future.”
In December 2008, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom services provider by revenue, became the first operator to offer iPhones in the country after the company secured the exclusive right from Apple to sell the phone in Taiwan to help extend its lead over competitors.
As of the end of last year, sales of iPhones accounted for 2.3 percent of the 7.04 million mobile phones sold in Taiwan.
Placing sixth in the local phone market, it lagged far behind Nokia’s 29.9 percent and Sony Ericsson’s 20.3 percent, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported on Jan. 21, citing data collected from local retail channels.
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