AMERICA Movil SAB, Latin America's largest mobile-phone company, and Vivo Participacoes SA began selling Apple Inc's iPhone in Brazil yesterday, in a bid to boost revenue and margins.

"It's impressive how interested consumers are in the product," Joao Cox, president of America Movil's unit Claro, told Bloomberg News in a conference call on Thursday. "It's one more step in innovation. Demand should surpass supply in the first phase of sales."

Sales of iPhones will help boost the carriers' revenue and margins by increasing demand for value-added services, such as broadband Internet. Claro said margins on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were about 22 percent in Brazil in the second quarter. That compares with 54 percent in Mexico and 50 percent in Colombia.

The iPhone's debut in Brazil also gives Apple access to one of the region's largest mobile-phone markets, with 138 million subscribers in August. The country's market has been expanding by an average of 25 percent a year, according to the national telecommunications regulator.

Claro's revenue from value-added services in the second quarter rose 58 percent compared to a year earlier, while Vivo, Brazil's largest mobile-phone carrier with a 30 percent market stake, saw an increase of 53 percent.

Roberto Lima, chief executive officer of Vivo, forecast sales of 1 million iPhones in Brazil, without defining a time frame.

"There is a lot of pent-up demand for the iPhone," he told reporters. "Brazilians love technology."

Prices for the iPhone start at 1,000 reais (US$536) for the 8-gigabte model.

America Movil gained 5.6 percent to close at 25.71 pesos (US$2.38) in Mexico City trading on Thursday. Vivo rose 4.6 percent to close 8.25 reais in Sao Paulo on the same day.