iPhone 5 hits Russian, Chinese markets

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MOSCOW, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Apple says it has begun official sales of its iPhone 5 and iPad Mini in Russia and has introduced the new phone in China, industry sources say.

The iPhone reached Russia almost three months after it was launched in the United States and about 30 other countries, with the sources speculating the delay was caused by production shortages at Foxconn, Apple's main manufacturing partner, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

The iPad Mini made arrived in the Russian market much faster, only six weeks after its launch in the United States.

The iPhone is expected to sell for $1,140-$1,330, depending on memory capacity.

One of the selling points for the iPhone in the rest of the world -- support for high-speed LTE networks -- will be irrelevant in Russia because no Russian mobile operators offer LTE capability.

On Friday Apple also officially released the iPhone 5 in China, offering it for sale online, in its seven retail stores in the country and through cellular providers China Unicom and China Telecom.