Apple has got to be happy about how well the iPhone 4S is doing. In the U.S., the device has already sold more than 4 million units, according to Apple, and now the company is opening the floodgates in 22 additional countries.
According to a story from 9to5Mac, Apple stores in the new countries are already taking reservations for the popular device, with an eye toward launching it at the end of the month. The new countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The four million units that Apple reported came the weekend after it launched in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K., in addition to the U.S.
Last week during its quarterly earnings call, Apple noted that China is its second-largest market, behind the U.S. Expanding into other markets has been a huge source of growth for Apple already – the China region accounted for 12 percent of Apple’s annual growth in 2011, which hit $28.7 billion in revenue. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, 16 percent of total revenue, about $4.5 billion, was attributed to China. That’s about half the revenue generated by the entire European region for the same time.
Apple has had a tough time (as usual) fulfilling the demand for the iPhone 4S. It moved 1 million pre-orders within 24 hours, and all three major U.S. carriers reported selling out on pre-orders as well. That seems to be the case in other countries too, as 9to5Mac demonstrated with a screenshot from the online Swedish Apple Store. Rumors have been circulating that Apple has already increased its orders for the devices among manufacturers in China.
After these 22 countries on Oct. 22, Apple intends to launch the iPhone in 70 more countries by the end of the year. As 9to5Mac reports, Apple’s iPhone, in some form, already has a presence in 103 countries and 130 carriers. And though Apple may have been surpassed by Samsung as the world’s leading smartphone maker last quarter, second-place might not be a position that Apple occupies for long.
