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THE launch of the 3G iPhone in Malaysia is expected to increase Maxis Communications Bhd’s competitiveness, says chief marketing officer Matthew Willsher.

He expects the company to sell “thousands” of units with “thousands” of orders received over the last nine days for the phone. But he declined to disclose any figures during a press conference held prior to the launch of the iPhone in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Maxis managed to cut a deal with iPhone manufacturer Apple Inc ahead of its rivals but Willsher declined to elaborate on how many units the company targets to sell in Malaysia, whether it has exclusive rights to distribute the phone or its target market.

“We are just delighted and the numbers keep expanding. The iPhone will strengthen our competitiveness in the market place,” Willsher says. Maxis has over 11 million mobile subscribers as at end of last year, representing about 42% of Malaysia’s cellular phone market.

Willsher says the phone will be sold in Maxis’ 29 retail outlets and 60 of its exclusive partner shops as well as at Apple stores throughout the country.

He says the phones available here are the unlocked version. This means that after the expiry of the contractual period, users can port in to other service providers and still be able to use the phone.

Maxis is offering four iValue plans that range from RM100 to RM375 monthly. The cost of the phone is subsidised and packages run from six to 24 months.

To a comment that the packages are pricey, Willsher says: “We are not low cost (operator); our pricing is fabulous as it combines both data and voice. We believe it is very reasonable.”

An iPhone offers users multiple capabilities including voice, music and data. It gives users a new way of accessing information and other web applications, listening to music, playing games, chatting and social networking.

iPhone was first introduced in 2007 and the 3G iPhone made its debut last year. Sold in 85 countries, iPhone has over 25,000 applications and 200 million applications were downloaded in the first 100 days when it was first launched.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, a total of 7 million units were sold globally, making Apple the third largest mobile phone manufacturer by value after Nokia and Samsung.

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THE Apple Inc’s popular iPhone may not be exclusive to leading mobile operator Maxis Communications Bhd in Malaysia, which will start selling them on Friday (March 20), say industry sources.

This could potentially pave the way for other cellphone carriers to offer the touch-screen cellphone, and non-Maxis customers may wait until their carrier offers the iPhone.

It is understood that Apple is open for negotiations with other operators to sell the iPhone in the country.

“The iPhone 3G deal is not exclusive to Maxis in Malaysia. Having said that, it all depends on whether Celcom, DiGi or U Mobile can strike a deal with the phone maker,” an industry source told Business Times.

As such, the deal reached with Apple would still give Maxis a head start because it may take several months before other operators formally join in to sell the iPhone.

When contacted, a Maxis spokesperson declined to comment on the validity of the information.

In a press statement issued by Maxis last Wednesday, there was no mention that the company had secured exclusive distribution rights for the iPhone.

Apple, which has traditionally insisted on partnering with a single mobile service provider in each market such as AT&T in the US, has begun striking more non-exclusive deals to sell its iPhone across the world. This is particularly so after its exclusive single-carrier relationships have raised eyebrows of European regulators and some mobile operators.

In February, France Telecom SA, the third largest phone company in Europe, lost a court bid to preserve its exclusive contract for French sales of the iPhone handsets. The court said in a ruling that contracts limiting sales of iPhone to a single mobile phone company are a “restraint on competition” that warrant immediate measures.

Three weeks later, French mobile operator SFR announced that it will sell iPhones starting April 8 this year.

Besides France, Apple has also signed non-exclusive deals with operators in Italy, namely Vodafone and Telecom Italia.

In Hong Kong, mobile phone users can now buy an iPhone from the Apple Store and use it on any networks.

In Singapore, even though Singapore Telecommunications Ltd is the only operator offering iPhones, it does not stop rivals M1 and Starhub from negotiating with Apple on another iPhone deal.

Meanwhile, Maxis, in the statement, said it would start selling the iPhone on Friday (March 20) and has also unveiled its “specially-designed” price plans, which range from a monthly commitment of RM100 to as high as RM375, over a 24-month period. The price of the device varies, depending on which package a customer chooses.

The “Maxis iPhone 3G” news have since generated much interest and discussions.

While there were many who were excited over the news, there were also those who felt that the price plans were “somewhat unfriendly”. – Btimes

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