With a press release, Apple announced that its latest iPhone model, the iPhone 4S, will be available in China and 21 additional countries on Friday, January 13. Making it the fastest iPhone rollout to date, the iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries by next week; Apple targeted a launch in 70 countries by the end of 2011.
Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.
On January 13, the iPhone 4S will become available in: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.
Since its introduction in October, the iPhone 4S has seen a steady rollout to meet Apple’s expectations of availability in 70 countries by the end of 2011. Just as U.S. carriers were reportedly struggling to meet the 4S’ demand and Apple launched an initiative to reserve a model for in-store pickup, the device launched in Hong Kong and South Korea, several countries in Europe and India. At the same time, Apple began selling unlocked iPhone 4S units in the United States, and confirmed they were “very pleased” with the initial demand for the device.
In October, it was reported the 4S sold 4 million units in its first weekend. Apple hasn’t disclosed new numbers since, but the company is expected to reveal financial results for the past quarter on January 24, where they’ll likely give out new pieces of information regarding the 4S’ performances in different markets. As a side note, Apple’s press release doesn’t include any details on the carrier(s) that will support the 4S in China, which has been an ongoing source of speculation among rumor sites and Apple watchers in the past few months due to China Unicom’s (the country’s second largest carrier) reported interest in the 4S.
