In an official press statement released today, Apple has announced that the sixth-generation iPhone – known around the by its official name, the iPhone 5 – will be released to the South Korean market this coming Friday along with 50 additional markets going forward. Apple originally released the elongated smartphone on September 21st to the first batch of territories with subsequent releases hitting a number of other countries on September 28th and November 2nd. With the handset shifting over two million units in the first twenty-four hours of pre-orders going live, and five million units during the opening weekend, it’s likely that the device will be positively received in new territories.
In addition to the South Korean launch this week, Apple has also taken the opportunity to announce that the iPhone 5 will also be made available in a further 50 countries during the month of December. One of those countries set to imminently receive the best thing to happen to the iPhone since the iPhone is Russia, which also looks set to receive the whole iTunes treatment thanks to a small but dedicated event happening in a Red Square shopping mall tomorrow evening.
The release of the hardware in the 50 additional countries sees the total number of territories stocking the gorgeous iPhone 5 rise to 97, with Brazil, Taiwan,Chile, Taiwan, Vietnam, Uganda and Turkey to name a few that are amongst the latest places to receive the latest iPhone goodness on December 14th. Apple will be hoping that their latest smartphone will prove to be as successful in the additional countries as it has in the 47 territories that already offer the device.
Both the Black & Slate and White & Silver devices will be available in all additional countries, with the official press release also stating that the iPhone 4S will be available from as little as $99 with a minimum two-year contract, and the iPhone 4 available as a free of charge device on contract. The launch of the iPhone 5 in the 50 additional countries suggests that Apple is in a fairly powerful position stock wise, and are hopefully over the early inventory and supply issues that plagued the availability of the device when it was first launched back in September.
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