Apple plans to drill for iPhone sales in Iran

Lotf Allah Mosque, Iran. Photo: Quixotic54/Flickr CC

With China, India and Korea all representing growing markets, Apple’s expanding into more countries than ever here in 2014. One place you’d be forgiven for not expecting Tim Cook and co. to show up in, however, is Iran.

It seems that this assumption may be wrong, though, as according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in preliminary contact with U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as Iranian distributors, about possibly entering the country should Western sanctions ease sufficiently.

Senior Apple executives are said to have recently met with potential distributors at Apple’s headquarters in London, England. Apple is exploring the possibility of having Iranian partners sell the company’s products at Apple-only premium resellers, although these would not be official Apple Stores.
Apple would be allowed to export its iPhone to Iran because of a May 2013 U.S. decision, which lifted laws that barred the sale of consumer communications technologies in Iran. Although Apple has never had a presence in Iran, iPhones and iPads are supposedly easy to find, since they are smuggled in and sold at black market bazaars.
Legitimising these sales makes a lot of sense for Apple. The Wall Street Journal writes that:

Iran’s 77 million people offer a particularly attractive new market. Iran’s population is relatively young, with— 42% of its people under age 25. Iran also boasts a relative large middle class. And despite decades of animosity between Tehran and the West, many well-off Iranians still embrace Western brands and trends.

The article also notes that cellphones are slowly becoming more common and useful in the country. Although the government has historically restricted Internet access, including banning various social media sites, Tehran’s new government “has shown some willingness to ease up.”