SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is launching iPhone in September, but the telco has declined to confirm or deny that it has struck a deal with iPhone maker Apple Inc, local broadcaster Channel News Asia reported, citing industry sources.
A spokesman from SingTel declined to comment on the report.
While Apple is targeting to sell 10 million iPhone units this year in Asia, talks with telcos around the region have dragged since last year over Apple's unprecedented demand that it be given a revenue share from each iPhone sold to mobile phone subscribers.
'The news, if true, is positive for SingTel. Given iPhone's (appeal to consumers), we believe iPhone would lead to higher market share for SingTel. However, the impact on SingTel's bottom line should not be very significant given Apple's hard bargaining tendency and tough competition from StarHub,' said DBS Vickers in a note to clients.
Even though iPhone is not yet available in Singapore, DBS said Singaporeans have bought an estimated 10,000 units since the mobile phone was launched in the US in June last year, with some paying as much as 1,000 Singapore dollars for a unit.
If the news is true, SingTel would likely be the first telco to officially launch iPhone in Asia. China Mobile had in January ended talks with Apple about the launch of iPhone in China.
Apple has also held talks with other Asian telcos, including NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone company.
(1 US dollar = 1.38 Singapore dollars)
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