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Ten Million iPhones This Year? It’s Within Reach

May 16th, 2008 @ 4:30 pm

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Tags: Apple Inc., Orange PCS, Apple iPhone, 3G, Wireless, Strategy, Wi-Fi, Cellular Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Apple’s iPhone will be headed to a few more countries courtesy of a new deal with French telecom carrier Orange.

In a statement, Orange said:

Orange today announced a new agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Orange customers in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Orange’s African markets later this year.

The Orange announcement follows deals with Vodafone and Rogers Communications. According to the Associated Press, Orange has exclusive iPhone deals in Belgium and Romania and co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals in the other countries.

Meanwhile, America Movil, a Mexican wireless carrier, said May 7 that it will bring the iPhone to Latin America. The America Movil deal gives the iPhone exposure to 159 million subscribers.

Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhones through March and these international pacts should give the company enough exposure to hit its 10 million unit goal. Considering that Apple is more than halfway to its shipment target with a 3G iPhone brewing and a bevy of international deals the 10 million unit goal may be an easy mark.

While these incremental deals certainly add to the potential iPhone units Apple can sell, the big news will come when the company reaches a pact with China Mobile. According to Piper Jaffray, a pact with China Mobile would expose the iPhone to more than 369 million subscribers.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

Credit: ZDNet

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