As promised, Apple has launched special Lunar New Year online sales in a handful of countries. These are notably similar to the company's Black Friday deals in the US, which were modest in scope. At the Hong Kong Apple Store, for instance, Apple is offering about 8 percent off Wi-Fi iPads, or 6 to 7 percent off 3G models.
Apple is running a special Lunar New Year promotion on Friday, January 6th, the company has announced. In China and Hong Kong, as well as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines, people will be able to visit local Apple online stores for rare first-party discounts. As with the company's Black Friday sale, though, no prices are being advertised ahead of time.
The iPhone 4S is now available in over 20 more countries, checks show. A list includes Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The expansion coincides with expansions of the iTunes Store and iTunes Match.
Brazil and Russia have officially entered the ranks of countries getting the iPhone 4S on December 16th. In Brazil, the local division of carrier Claro has put up a marketing page singling out the date. Some local shops have reportedly been selling the 4S since last week, but unofficially and at extremely high prices, approaching $2,000 for a 16GB model.
The iPhone 4 should be launching in several more countries over the course of the next week. Three rollouts are scheduled for September 24th, when Israel will get the phone through Orange, Turkey through Turkcell and Vodafone, and Thailand via TrueMove. Although some 200,000 Thais are said to have pre-ordered, only 45,000 to 60,000 phones may actually be ready for launch day.
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.
Malaysia and Indonesia will be the next two countries to carry the iPhone 3G, accounts indicate. Malaysian carrier Maxis is already taking pre-orders for the device, which should launch in the country on March 20th. When selecting a 12-month contract, an 8GB phone will cost between RM 1900 and RM 1080, while a 16GB model will cost between RM 2290 and RM 1470. Prices are dependent on the particular i-Value plans users pick, which start at RM 100 for 333 minutes and 500MB of data and end at RM 375 for 2,500 minutes and 3GB of data.
