Andre Yoskowitz
8 Dec 2009 15:22
Beginning tomorrow, the Apple iPhone will finally launch in Israel, with carrier Cellcom being the first carrier to offer the device. Within the next week, Orange and Pelephone will offer the smartphone as well.
Notably, each carrier is only being required to buy 80,000 iPhones for resale, however, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Haim Israel says the carriers will be purchasing much more.
Israel has one of the highest mobile phone penetration rates in the world at 125 percent, and it is estimated that 80,000 Israelis currently use unlocked iPhones bought online or abroad.
The analyst also believes that "the iPhone will boost average revenue per user by 30 percent...thus, the average payback period would be only 13 months."