iPhone has never become a technological revolution, yet the marketing and promotional efforts of Apple are worthy of admiration. The company succeeded in bestowing an image of a cult product upon their creation; as a result, even the most serious of the market experts were tricked into believing things which simply can not be. For example, many people from the telecom circles still believe that more than 500,000 iPhone copies have been sold across Russia. This wasn't even taken from Steve Jobb's wet dreams, - the Russian telecom market is several times smaller than the Chinese one, which is so favored as a target of comparison. Currently the largest numbers of iPhones are sold in the US, and the situation isn't likely to change in the foreseeable future. But even on the native market, Apple holds only a third position in the smartphone vendor chart. That's why Apple see it a point of great importance to expand their market coverage in different regions of the world, China standing on the priority list.

The share of iPhones on the Russian market had been widely believed to revolve around 400,000 copies, but eventually it was revealed that in fact the real number was four times smaller, only making up some 90,000 handsets. As stated by Dmitry Ryabinin, the project manager of Smape.com, all previously aired estimations about the number of iPhones sold in Russia are grossly exaggerated. All iPhones registered in the local carriers' networks put together only make about 90,000 copies. That's not bad for a single model, but is hardly up to the status of a cult product. The thing is that iPhones only used to come to Russia in black shipments, should Apple have been selling their handset officially, the number would have been much more impressive.

РThe difference between the previous estimations can't either be explained by the well-known iPhone hack – the infamous Boot Loader fix – because the carriers identify devices by their IMEI numbers which are transmitted upon device identification using the GSM protocol, which has nothing to do with the existing known iPhone firmware modification techniques, - says Ryabinin, - the real number is very likely to be about 90,000 copies.

About a half of the Russian iPhones is registered in the networks of the BeeLine carrier, a share of 30% belongs to MTS, the rest are dispersed between Megaphone and lesser market player. Such a segmentation is mostly due to the specifics of the tariffs offered by these companies and isn't affected by any subsidies, discounts or other factors commonly observed on the Western carrier market. Apple were never able to bid an exclusive distribution contract for iPhone with any of Russia's largest carrier companies.

As we have already mentioned, in the best case we'll see official iPhones arriving to Russia before the end of the year, though currently the deal is only being discussed. It's up to both sides to come up with terms suitable for both. Currently none of the leading Russian carriers struck a deal, so the destiny of iPhone in Russia remains obscure, and all existing shipments are gray or black.

Today some sort of a rumor about a deal with MTS finally surfaced. If we were to believe the gossip, the solution will enter the market in October as a part of a package deal. The final price is being discussed, probably reaching $1000 for the 3G model, yet no final solution has been aired so far. As an anonymous source has stated to Smape.com, the phone will come along with a ready carrier contract indeed, yet no discount is provided for the handset itself. The data, according to the source, is very dubious in nature and nobody outside the circle of a few high-ranking officials from MTS and Apple are able to state anything for sure as far as this project is considered.

According to our sources, iPhone will be sold by large retailers like Euroset or Svyaznoy. However the planned sales volume looks pretty unrealistic. Some of the e-zines predict iPhone sales reaching 1,8 million copies – which roughly stands for $2 billion, which isn't a sum the Russians are going to shell out for this goodness. We would predict another 200,000 copies of iPhone sold in Russia by the end of the year, effectively tripling the overall number of iPhones in the country, - a direct result of Apple's coming to the local market.

So far iPhone in Russia is only available from the black market. The 3G model costs about $1500, which can hardly be explained by any objective reason. In certain cases, even not the most popular models were overpriced by more than 100%. There are accounts of Sony Ericsson M600 sold for $1200 after being originally purchased for $400 overseas. That just happens as long as there's a ready demand to meet the incoming black shipments. The same is perfectly true about iPhone. Once it begins to sell officially, the black market price will inevitably get confined in a bracket between the lowest price available from the foreign market and the official price established by Apple for Russia.

Comparison between iPhone and HTC Touch

Currently a number of 90,000 of iPhones looks quite unimpressive even in comparison with HTC touch which sold a time and a half as well for the time being, let alone the more popular Nokia smartphone. In this sense, the much expected touchsreen-equipped 5800 model (alternatively known under the Tube codename). It is going to be announced in September. According to the official statements made exclusively for Smape.com, the sales will start in late November / early December, the starting price is estimated to be 360 euros. This automatically makes the device a potential bestseller and one of the most expected smartphones of the recent time.

Nokia 5800 (Tube)

Let's check that this only goes to the Russian market, for it is common knowledge that Nokia handsets sell very poorly on Apple's native market in the US, so there's little chance for a fair competition between the two on that front. The competition with WM products is but an indirect one, though many take haste to draw comparisons with HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung i900 WiTu. Currently WM is much stronger in Russia and the situation is not going to change, certain models are even occupying the leading positions in the sales charts.

 Apple iPhone compared with HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung i900 WiTu

The import and export questions are to be resolved entirely on Apple's behalf, for neither carriers nor retailers are able to provide sufficient support in this field. All the customs office and certification questions are poorly observed by the law in Russia, as you know. The company has had a substantial experience of such affairs, so no real problem should stand in the way. The continuity and extent of the promotional campaign is a different question. Apple doesn't seem to possess such impressive sums to launch a long-lasting iPhone publicity campaign in Russia, and judging by Samsung's experience, this point plays a critical part on the Russian market. It's hard to expect iPhone becoming an absolute bestseller in this country.

While this article was in the works, an Apple iPhone 3G fell into our possession. After a day of usage we weren't able to find a way to delete all the contacts and messages with a single action. Experienced users advised doing this using phone-to-PC synchronization suite or just reflash the firmware to reset everything to a virgin state. Ironically enough, even the cheapest handsets can flush all contacts and messages with a single tap of the button. Another revolution by Apple, isn't it? "$1000 for an unmatched functionality, the best bargain!" - Dmitry Ryabinin, Smape.com project manager