Johannesburg - South Africans can forget about Apple's iPhone after the local distributor of Apple products said the hugely popular gadget will not be available in SA.

According to RJ van Spaandonk, chief executive of the Core group, Apple's head office in the US decided not to distribute the iPhone in South Africa.

"This is a decision from the US and outside the control of the Core group," he said. Those desperate for the iPhone can have one imported themselves, but Van Spaandonk doesn't recommend it.

The iPhone is currently only available in the US and Britain. Apple concluded deals with specific service providers in these countries and the phones can only work through their networks.

The iPhone costs between $399 and $599 in the US.

If a South African wants to import the gadget, the user would have to bypass the official network, but Apple already warned that unblocking the phone illegally would cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software.

The popularity of the device has attracted technology enthusiasts to hack the phone's software in such a way to make it operate on other networks.

The pirate software spawned a black market in unblocked iPhones, notably to Europe and Asia where the sleekly designed phone is not yet on sale. The programs let the phone be used with networks outside the United States, reports AFP.

According to AFP hundreds of unblocked iPhones are for sale on the online auction site eBay, most of them for $500 to $600.

Apple already released an updated version of its software to try to make the unblocked versions obsolete.

Apple said in a statement in September that it strongly discourages users from installing unauthorised unlocking programs on their iPhones.

"Users who make unauthorised modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty."

Van Spaandonk also warned that the Core group would not be able to deliver support services for any self-imported iPhones.

The good news is that South Africans can still fill their Christmas stocking with Apple's other new products. Van Spaandonk reckons the iTouch will especially be popular in South Africa.

The iTouch, available in SA from this week, looks and works exactly like the iPhone, but doesn't have cellphone functions. It can however connect to the internet via WiFi.

Apple's new Mac operating system has also bee released in SA this week. More than two million copies of the OS X Leopard have already been sold worldwide since its release on October 26.

Together with these two flagship products, the Core group also unveiled the new iPod series. South Africans can now also buy a 160-gigabyte iPod and an iPod Nano, which can play videos.

The demand for Apple's products has grown significantly in South Africa, with a growth rate of 47% in sales last year, according to the Core group.

- Sake24