While we have seen lawsuits being thrown at one another between Samsung and Apple, with punches being landed by both sides squarely on the jaw, something entirely different is happening in South America – Argentina, to be exact. It seems that the Argentinian government has decided to order a complete ban on the import and sales of Apple’s iPhone as well as the entire range of BlackBerry smartphones. These are not the only two manufacturers affected, as the ban would also cover all foreign-made phones. While Apple and RIM lack factories in Argentina, Nokia, Samsung, LG and Motorola must be laughing away as they escaped from the ban unscathed since they did invest in building factories in that part of the world already.
Guess we will be hearing about Apple and RIM working around the clock to build their own factory in Argentina, and perhaps the doubling of size of the Foxconn plant might be put on hold as the same resources could be used to construct a factory in Argentina instead. Currently, it is said that Apple and RIM share around 60% of the Argentinian smartphone market, making their next move all the more important (and urgent).
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