Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- America Movil SAB, Latin America's largest mobile-phone company, and Vivo Participacoes SA began selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone in Brazil today 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 reporters in a conference call yesterday. ``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 an average 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's increased 53 percent. Still, these services represent 9 percent of sales at Claro and 10 percent for Vivo.

1 Million iPhones

Roberto Lima, chief executive officer of Vivo, Brazil's largest mobile-phone carrier with a 30 percent market stake, 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 yesterday. ``Brazilians love technology.''

The Sao Paulo-based company is also betting the device will help it stop losing market share. The carrier saw its slice of mobile-phone users shrink in all but two months of the past three years, according to the regulator.

Claro achieved the second-biggest market share for the first time in August, displacing Tim Participacoes SA. The company had 25 percent of the country's subscribers last month.

Prices for the iPhone start at 1,000 reais ($549) for the 8- gigabte model at Claro, rising to 2,599 reais for the 16-gigabyte phone with the most expensive payment plan. Comparable prices at Vivo are 899 reais to 2,199 reais.

America Movil gained 5.6 percent to 25.71 pesos in Mexico City trading yesterday. Vivo, controlled by Telefonica SA and Portugal Telecom SGPS, rose 4.6 percent to 8.25 reais in Sao Paulo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heloiza Canassa in Sao Paulo at hcanassa@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 26, 2008 04:18 EDT