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Associated Press (CBS) reports that after the US, China and Russia have the largest numbers of iPhone users. Moscow and Beijing have become an iPhone trader's paradise with Russian websites offering the 3G iPhone for about $1,200, six times the US$199 base price in the US. "They are being brought in in suitcases," said Eldar Murtazin, Mobile Research Group (Russia). "No one is paying any sort of customs fees." Murtazin estimates that 400,000 iPhones have been brought into Russia since the first model was released in June 2007. China is believed to have at least twice that number. In both countries, the device enjoys super-exclusive status, thanks to a thriving market for unlocked iPhones. Even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been seen using one. Steve Jobs has said he expects deals with Russian and Chinese carriers will be cut by the end of the year. Editor's note: Apple's new, more stringent controls on sales probably won't put much of a dent in the thriving trade for unlocked iPhones. Likely the only thing that could halt it would be better pricing and terms from its carrier partners. Thereupon, don't start holding your breath... What's your take?
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