Globe, Apple exclusivity deal ends; Smart offers iPhone 4S

It’s official: Globe Telecom’s exclusivity over the widely popular Apple iPhone has ended.

Globe and its bigger rival Smart Communications this week started accepting early orders for the iPhone 4S, the last Apple product unveiled to the public before the death of the company’s superstar founder, Steve Jobs.

Pre-order pages on both Globe and Smart’s websites went live on Friday. Neither firm disclosed how many units it would have available for the first batch of users. Price lists were also not made public.

But unlike Globe, Smart said it would release the first batch of iPhones in two weeks or on Dec. 16.

The iPhone will be available in three models, distinguished only by the amount of data the devices can store.

The base model will have 16 gigabytes of storage, the mid-range unit will have 32 gigabytes while the top-of-the-line model will have 64 gigabytes.

Globe has enjoyed exclusivity over the iPhone since the first version of the device was launched in 2008, in line with Apple’s policy of allowing only one carrier per country to sell the device.

This policy changed with the iPhone 4S, which is now open to multiple, if not all, carriers in most countries.

Past iPhone units have always been launched in the Philippines by Globe with much fanfare, forcing many subscribers to wait for weeks—even months—before getting their own phones.

Smart chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said that he expects the new iPhone to solidify the company’s leadership in the postpaid mobile phone subscription market in the country.

Smart itself has only about half a million subscribers, or just half of Globe’s over one million postpaid users.

But earlier this year, the Pangilinan group leapfrogged ahead of Globe following the former’s purchase of number three player, Digitel Telecommunications Philippines Inc.

Digitel’s mobile brand, Sun Cellular, has close to 1.5 million postpaid users.

The iPhone 4S has so far been launched in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

Apple has not yet released official sales figures for the iPhone 4S, but officials have said demand has been “extraordinary,” possibly surpassing the record-breaking performances of its four predecessors.