Apple to Distribute iPhone Nonexclusively in Australia and India

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Until recently, Apple has sold its popular iPhone through exclusive contracts, such as AT&T being the sole distributor in the United States. That is about to change, as a number of overseas carriers have announced they will be selling the iPhone.

Digital Journal -- In a very short announcement posted on its website, SingTel announced it's inked a deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone.

As the announcement reads: "SingTel, Bharti Airtel, Globe and Optus today announced that they have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia later this year."

Last week, Vodafone announced an agreement it had signed with Apple to sell the iPhone in 10 countries, including Australia, India, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, South Africa, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey.

Up until this point, Apple has distributed the iPhone through exclusive deals with carriers, such as its famous deal with AT&T in the United States. But with the Vodafone announcement happening on the same day Telecom Italia said it too would be carrying the iPhone, it's clear Apple is at least testing the waters of non-exclusivity.

Today's announcement indicates iPhones will be sold to SingTel subscribers in Singapore, Bharti Airtel in India, Globe Telecom in the Philippines and Optus in Australia.

Not much information is currently available, as SingTel only says it will sell the phone "later this year."

As for the confusing mess of companies involved: Reports indicate Optus is a subsidiary of SingTel and Bharti Airtel and Globe Telecom are affiliated companies in which SingTel is an investor.

As Inquirer.net reports:

SingTel owns Optus and holds a 30.5-percent stake in Bharti and 44.5 percent in Globe. As of Dec. 31, 2007, SingTel had about 2.3 million mobile subscribers in Singapore and around 7 million in Australia. Bharti currently has about 64 million subscribers, while Globe reported a 21.3 million mobile subscriber base for the quarter ended March 31.

Apple has a goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, so getting into the Asian market would be key to that strategy. The company has sold 5.4 million iPhones worldwide to date as of March 31, 2008.