Apple wants to get its new iPhones in as many hands as possible. We know that the company has been talking with China Mobile for the iPhone 5C launch, and apparently NTT DoCOMo is warming up to the idea of selling the iPhone. So what's next? Russia, of course.
According to TechCrunch, Apple executives have been traveling to Russia in an effort to spread its retail wings there. Apple hasn't had as big of a presence in Russia as it does in other markets, in fact, it only just opened up its Web store to Russian consumers in June and launched iTunes just last year. In July, the last retailer that sold the iPhone decided to stop selling the device because it said Apple's marketing department had "harsh conditions" and "draconian contracts."
Apple will need to convince Russian retailers that there are profits to be made by selling the iPhone, and we imagine it's going to have to do some negotiating on the contract side. Our best guess is that Apple will try to sell the iPhone 5C first, mainly because it could sell at lower price points off contract, though perhaps some of the Russian elite have their eye on the champagne iPhone 5S.
