SingTel and its associates have announced that they've signed with Apple to enable them to sell the iPhone in their respective territories in Southeast Asia. Wondering which specific countries will be falling under this latest expansion news? Read the full article for the rest of the details!

Vodafone has announced that it plans to begin selling Apple's iPhone to ten other countries by the second half of this year. That news aside, there are also implications that Apple will stop using exclusive carriers for their phone. Details are available in the full article.

Thanks to globalization and the unmitigated flow of products across national borders, Apple products such as the MacBook and iPod remain very popular in India. This is largely because locals consider Apple's products as status symbols, showing the rest of society that iPod owners know what's cool and hip outside of their country.

However, due to the usurious taxes and added price from customs imposed on Apple's products in the country, few people buy their iPods legally, and instead resort to what they call the "gray market." The gray market is where tons of smuggled iPods and MacBooks from Singapore, Dubai, and Malaysia are being sold in India.

Om Gani, a stall-owner in Burma Bazaar, Chennai's most notorious illegal market in India, says "You can't buy Apple in India. I have to fly out of the country every month to get more." The 30GB video iPod reportedly sells for $280 in the gray market, which is $20 cheaper than the amount they sell it for at Best Buy in US. BUT, guess how much the 30GB iPod sells in authorized retail shops in India? A whopping $440.

If this is the case, the "logical" thing for many buyers is to go where you can get the product at a cheaper price. As for Apple, they don't have any cause to complain or force retailers to stay legal because the price added to their products go to the Indian government and not to them. And well, legit or not, this still means more profit for Apple.

Buying your Apple products on the gray market has its dangers nonetheless; there's no warranty of any sort. There's always the danger of getting counterfeit parts and iPod units that have barely survived the rough handling of smugglers. We know it's always better and safer to buy our stuff the legal way. But in the case of India and the gray market, could you really blame the locals who just want their own iPods?

Apple has pulled out its software development and support operations in India, and the only reason offered by its spokesperson was that the company has "re-evaluated our plans and have decided to put our planned support centre growth in other countries." The "re-evaluation" may have seen that doing business in India may be more costly than Apple first projected.

According to a source familiar to the situation says, "India isn't as inexpensive as it used to be. The turnover is high, and the competition for good people is strong." Apple feels it "can do [such work] more efficiently elsewhere."

Although India has a growing economy, many are questioning the sustainability of this economy. Even as India grew 9.3% last quarter and remains home to the world's largest and fastest-growing offshore outsourcing sector, its Sensex has dropped 20% in the past month. Other problems posed by the Indian economy is rising wages. According to India's software industry association McKinsey and Nasscom, entry-level pay at tech and outstanding companies climbed by as much as 13% annually from 2004 to 2005, with mid-level managers' pay jumping 30% a year during the same period.

So although India has a special place in Steve Jobs' heart - proven by his choosing the country as the place for his search of spiritual enlightenment back in the 70s - running a $14B enterprise will still be his topmost priority.

Apple came like a roaring tiger to Bangalore, and left it like a mouse. Recently, Apple called it quits in India and pulls out its software development and support operations. Apple got cracking in India just this April and hired 30 people for Apple Service India Pvt. Ltd. - their subsidiary.

The decision to leave India was announced on May 29. All the employees were laid-off and were told by Apple officials that "the company is revaluating its operations and has thought of pulling back its Indian operations". Apple then gave the employees a severance package which included two months pay. Apple spokesperson, Steve Dowling said that "we have re-evaluated our plans and have decided to put our planned support centre growth in other countries."

It was a surprise that Apple pulled out even if the Bangalore operation offers low-cost and highly talented people. According to one of the suddenly jobless employees, "it started off with building dreams. We were not given any warning. They just told us the operations would now head back to the US." Another employee added that "on May 15, Apple officials addressed us and were highly appreciative of the workforce and the task it would execute in India. I wonder why they never said anything even then."

Apple initially planned on hiring at least 3,000 tech support workers in India. Steve Jobs was suppose to visit India last April to check out operations there, but the visit was postponed and pushed to September.