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The iPhone 5 will be in 100 countries this year after all

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 3, 2012, 11:20 AM ET

FORTUNE — Some analysts were concerned last Friday — with holiday buying in full swing and just one month left in the year — when Apple (AAPL) announced that the iPhone was available for sale in only 47 countries. That was 53 countries short of the company’s self-imposed target of 100 countries by December.

Would Tim Cook — Apple’s master logistician — manage to pull it off?

Wall Street didn’t have to wait long for an answer. On Monday, Apple issued another press release announcing that the iPhone 5 will be available in South Korea on Dec. 7 and more than 50 additional countries by Dec. 21. That puts Apple right on target — or one over, depending on how you count Antigua and Barbuda.

But it also means that potential buyers who have to wait until Dec. 14 or Dec. 21, according to Apple’s new schedule (below), to order the iPhone 5 may not actually get the thing until after Christmas.

The list of new countries from Apple’s Monday press release:

iPhone 5 will be available in South Korea on Friday, December 7 and on Friday, December 14 in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. iPhone 5 will also be available on Friday, December 21 in Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.

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By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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