Middle East > Iran > US Microsoft enters Iranian market

Iran: US Microsoft enters Iranian market

2015/09/17

The US-based Microsoft Company has entered Iran’s mobile phone market, Tasnim news agency reported.

Pars Samtel, who presented itself as the exclusive representative of Microsoft mobile phones in Iran has opened a five-unit store at the country’s mobile marketplace in the capital city of Tehran.

The store is the initial in Iran. No official statement was made on the issue so far.

If the statement is confirmed, Microsoft will be the initial US company to enter Iran’s market following the historic nuclear transaction between Iran and the six world powers last July.

Before in July, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US company Apple is in talks with Iranian distributors to potentially sell products in the country. However Mojtaba Khosrotaj Iranian deputy industry, mining, and trade minister rejected the statement saying Apple has no official representative in Iran.

He added that last year two or three requests were sent to the ministry of industry, mining, and trade, but it was revealed that the requests were not genuine and valid.

There were as well some speculations that the US fast-food giant McDonald’s, which is the world’s major fast-food chain by market price, is trying to obtain the license to open branches across Iran. However Iranian officials have rejected those claims as well.

“No request has been filed by McDonald’s to start operating in Iran and no authorization to the same result has been issued so far,” said Khosrotaj.

Next several months of talks, on July 14, Iran and the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, France, UK, and Germany) announced a final accord, curbing Iran 's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions.

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