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Russia's Megafon Signs Multi-Year iPhone Distribution Deal with Apple

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,553
30,882



Russian wireless carrier Megafon announced today that it has signed a three-year deal with Apple to sell the iPhone, reports Reuters. Megafon first sold the iPhone in 2008 and subsequently halted sales of the handset after it and other Russian carriers could not sell the volume of handsets required by Apple.
megafon-logo.jpg
Apple allegedly loosened its requirements for partner carriers, which opened the door for the Megafon deal. Competing carrier Vimpelcom signed a similar, direct deal with Apple in October 2013 that allowed the carrier to start selling the iPhone 5s and 5c. Among Russia's top three carriers, market leader MTS is the remaining holdout, buying its iPhone handsets from third-party distributors instead of Apple directly.

Apple's iPhone has a 20 percent market share of the smartphone market in Russia based on revenue and a nine percent market share based on units sold in 2013. Besides carriers, Apple also sells the iPhone in Russia through its online store and electronics resellers.


Article Link: Russia's Megafon Signs Multi-Year iPhone Distribution Deal with Apple
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/27/megafon-iphone-deal/
A

anomie

Suspended
Jun 29, 2010
557
152
I think it's not "this article", but macrumors is not very popular I'm Russia yet
 
O

osx11

macrumors 6502a
Jan 16, 2011
825
0
Just a stupid question: Why do carriers have to sign deals to sell a particular phone? Or is this just with iPhones?

I now this may be a naive question, but I'm seriously curious and don't really understand why this is always the case.
 
Gasu E.

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,034
3,150
Not far from Boston, MA.
osx11 said:
Just a stupid question: Why do carriers have to sign deals to sell a particular phone? Or is this just with iPhones?
Click to expand...

They don't need to sign a deal to sell the iPhone. They need to sign a deal to get iPhones from Apple at a discount. They can otherwise choose to buy through a distributor, typically at a higher price.
 
O

osx11

macrumors 6502a
Jan 16, 2011
825
0
Gasu E. said:
They don't need to sign a deal to sell the iPhone. They need to sign a deal to get iPhones from Apple at a discount. They can otherwise choose to buy through a distributor, typically at a higher price.
Click to expand...

Thanks, makes sense!
 
eXan

eXan

macrumors 601
Jan 10, 2005
4,731
63
Russia
Something tells me Megafon & co will still sell the phone at a regular price and pocket the higher margin they now have ;)
 
T

Tim0

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2013
99
11
Russia
Current Megafon prices are a bit lower than Russian Apple online store offer: the difference is 1000 RUR for 4s and 5s (any option), 3000 RUR for 5c 32GB and 2000 RUR for 5c 16GB (1 RUR = 0.029 USD). Still comes up to $840 for 5s 16Gb though.
 
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