Digi deal to break Malaysian iPhone exclusivity
updated 01:35 pm EST, Mon March 1, 2010
Carrier signs three-year agreement
Digi will begin selling the iPhone in Malaysia in "coming months," according to an announcement. Details remain scarce, but the carrier says it has signed a three-year agreement with Apple, which is expected to help push the former's sales up by more than 5 percent for 2010. The deal is likely connected to Digi's parent company, Telenor, which already sells the iPhone in many regions around the world.
Making the partnership more significant is that it will break Maxis Communications' monopoly over the Malaysian iPhone. Like Thailand, the Malaysian market is saturated with cellphones; there are in fact said to be more cellphones than people, meaning that a principal way of growing profit is now through charging for data. "The competition is going to be brutal," comments Scott Lim, the CEO of MIDF Amanah Asset Management.
