While Apple’s flagship iPhone has been slowly working its way to all four major carriers in the United States in recent years, it appears as if things are not going as well for the Cupertino firm’s phone overseas in Russia. It was announced today that Beeline, the third largest carrier in Russia, has decided not to renew its contract with Apple over alleged “harsh conditions” attached to the agreement.
It is also rumored that in place of the iPhone contract, Beeline has recently come to terms with Samsung to sell the Galaxy line of phones to consumers. This is reportedly because Samsung offered much more reasonable requests in its agreement with the carrier. Some of the issues with Apple’s requrements include large volume purchases, and advanced payment.It is also worth noting that of the original three carriers to sell the iPhone in Russia, not a single one of them still has ties to Apple’s phone. MTS, Megafon and Beeline were the original vendors of the phone in Russia, and MTS ended sales of the iPhone at the end of last year, even though Beeline and MTS are still listed as official iPhone carriers.
Chief Hi-Tech analyst Dmitry Ryabinin believes that Vimpelcom, Beeline’s parent company, ended its iPhone agreement in part because of Apple’s upcoming retail stores in Russia.This decision might be connected to the fact that Vimpelcom signed a contract with Samsung. Moreover, Apple is getting ready to open its own retail store chain in Russia and is not interested in having many third-party vendors.
Apple’s conditions are harsh, especially in the marketing department, and are not always beneficial for its partners. That’s why Vimpelcom’s decision looks logical.Unfortunately for Apple, Russia is a large market for smartphones, and it looks as if Samsung is gaining more allies within the country, while Apple is making enemies. What do you think about Beeline’s decision to drop the iPhone?
Tags: agreement, Beeline, carrier, contract, iPhone, MTS, News//Articles, Russia, Samsung
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