iPhone Available on 200 Carriers Worldwide

A recent report from AllThingsD stated that from March of this year until now (June), the amount of carriers across the globe that have the iPhone has jumped from 186 to 200 carriers. In light of WWDC this week and the expected release of the iPhone 5, this is a bold step on Apple's part to continue expanding the iPhone worldwide.

Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope in the article quotes this reason why Apple is on the move for greater expansion;

Apple is adding lots of new carriers abroad. They’ll more than make up for any decline due to folks holding off on their iPhone 4 purchase for news of the iPhone 5 or 4s.

Also, as iOS 5 will not be supported on the iPhone 3GS (EDIT - compatible with 3GS but does not support of all features of iOS5) and below, it is a wise decision for Apple to place more mobile networks to support not only the upcoming iPhone 4s and 5 but their new premier software, iOS 5. Also a recent discovery gave some credibility on the fact that the iPhone 5 could be releasing in September as speculated. For this reason, Apple is seemingly guaranteed a steady flow of income and rapid iDevice production as WWDC will soon reveal what is up next for iDevice users worldwide.