Apple Inc. ’s push to win users in Russia, one of the countries where the latest iPhones go on sale today, may fall short as the new model has a major drawback: it’s still too expensive.

Six years after the iPhone’s introduction, Apple’s share of Russia’s smartphone market is hovering at about 8 percent as the device is too pricey for all but the wealthiest of the country’s 143 million people. Samsung Electronics Co. has grabbed more than 50 percent of Russian sales with its cheaper devices running Google Inc’s Android software.

For the first time, Apple is bringing out a cheaper iPhone along with a higher-end model to “serve even more customers” around the world. With the retail price in Russia about $160 less than the top version, the 5c is still set to cost almost $800 -- about the country’s average monthly income.

“If Apple really wants to compete with Samsung, it should’ve come up with a much lower price for the 5c,” said Simon Baker, an analyst at IDC in Moscow. “It’s really a matter of what Apple wants: to have a really global product and retain market share as the smartphone market moves toward cheaper price brackets, or to focus on making the maximum profit.”

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