The iPhone effect part II: coming soon to Latin America?

This is a follow up to my previous posts (see here and here) on the announcements -or lack of- by Apple during Macworld.
No 3g iPhone, no new operators, no Latin America, no nothing .... very disappointing! I am still hoping for announcements in the coming weeks, that both Claro Brazil and Telcel Mexico will be the two operators launching the iPhone in Latin America. After all, Apple kept at least one important announcement from Macworld: the launch of the new 16Gb iPhone.
As reported by Cellular News: "Apple has launched a new version of the iPhone - with double the internal storage memory. The iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for US$499 ... Still no sign of the elusive 3G iPhone though."
Just last week, the hype was that Apple was losing millions from phones that were unlocked to be used in other networks. From Cellular News: Apple Lost Up to $400 Million in Revenues from Unlocked iPhones: "Analysts believe more than 1 million devices may have been sold and unlocked .... For every 1 million iPhone units unlocked, Apple forgoes up to $400 million in future revenue and profit ....".
While I believe the numbers quoted by analysts can be debated (they reflect the very unique business model that Apple has in which it takes part of the revenue from the operator), it is still a very valid point, and indeed the numbers are astounding. Apple may be losing in the long run by imposing their model, in fact, this is what we mentioned earlier in this blog may be delaying negotiations with operators in Asia as well as in Latin America.

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