Apple has started introducing trade-in offers that are particularly favorable to students. ZDNet reports:

Students who trade-in their old smartphones while upgrading to an iPhone will get 7,777 rupees (US$144). Non-students will be paid 7,000 rupees (US$130).

That’s in addition to an incentive for customers who use an American Express credit card to buy a new iPhone on a payment plan. Those customers will get 10 percent of their purchase back. Apple doesn’t have its own retail stores in India, but sells through a network of local, authorized retailers, many of whom only sell Apple products.

It’s a bit unusual for Apple to wheel and deal. But the iPhone maker has been tweaking its pricing strategy and incentive offerings in markets where smartphone ownership has only recently begun to take hold. Earlier this year, Apple introduced low and no-interest payment plans for iPhone buyers in India; similar to what it is offering in China. India is a country bearing huge potential — it is an example of what CEO Tim Cook means when he notes the potential of billions of people who have yet to own a smartphone. And as Om noted recently, there are 900 million mobile connections, and so far there are just 2.5 million iPhones in use.

As the iPhone matures especially in established markets, Apple is turning to fast-growing regions whose people are just now joining the smartphone revolution. It knows it can’t sell $600 smartphones to everyone. And so little by little we’re seeing Apple customize its approach to different markets, including selling older model iPhones through carriers, allowing brand-conscious young people to pay for the cachet of the iPhone brand in installments, or reaching customers through deals with local institutions.

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“We are looking for highly motivated individuals with the right mix of technical, organizational and communication skills to provide localization for the Netflix experience in the following languages: Turkish, Dutch, Hindi, French, and Korean.”

The company is also looking for an engineer to be the internationalization and localization evangelist at the company, further highlighting how important international markets are for Netflix.

Netflix has occasionally looked to hire employees to help with its internationalization efforts in the past, and job postings frequently contain countries that the company may not consider at all, just to make things less transparent for competitors. For example, in late 2011, a job offer listed “Turkish, Dutch, Russian, French, Hindi, German, Italian, Danish, Korean, Finnish, Japanese, and Spanish” as languages of interest.

Needless to say, Netflix hasn’t launched in Russia just yet. However, nine months after that job posting, the company announced plans to open shop in Northern Europe – including Finland and Denmark.

It’s very likely that South Korea, India and European countries such as the Netherlands, France and Belgium are at least under consideration as potential targets for further international expansion. Turkey seems less likely, but it’s certainly possible – the country has a thriving TV and movie industry, and it has seen an economic boom even as other parts of Europe have struggled.

Netflix is currently operating in over 40 countries, including the U.K. and Ireland, the Nordics, Latin America and Canada. It might take some time until we find out where Netflix will go next: executives said earlier this year that the company won’t embark on any further international expansions until late 2013 or early 2014. However, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells also made it clear that they definitely want to expand further, writing in their letter to shareholders:

“Our launch in the Nordics was very successful, confirming our belief in the large international opportunity for our service.”

Map courtesy of Flickr user kcp4911.

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Seoul, South Korea

Sept. 27, 2012: Last year Schmidt took a trip to much less controversial South Korea, where he met with Samsung execs, promoted Nexus 7 and showed a sillier side by dancing along with Psy and his viral “Gangnam Style.”

Pyongyang, North Korea

A March cyber attack on South Korean computer networks has been traced to an IP address in China, despite many experts suspecting the attacks to originate in North Korea.  (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Jan. 7, 2013: Google’s executive chairman took what many saw as a strange and controversial trip to North Korea, where he advocated for a free and open internet in what he calls “the last really closed country in the world.”

Beijing, China

During a April 2006 trip to Beijing, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt spells Chinese characters “Gu Ge”  at the inauguration of the company new Chinese brand name. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

Feb. 20, 2013: Attending a TED-like event known as Geek Park, Schmidt made his first public appearance in China in three years. In his hour-long talk, he discussed Google’s Android operating system and encouraged developers to write apps for it.

New Delhi, India

New Delhi (Thinkstock)

March 21, 2013: While on a trip to the Big Tent Activate Summit in New Delhi, Schmidt warned about heavyhanded control over the internet in China, where he had visited the month before, and advocated for better IT infrastructure in India.

Yangon, Myanmar

Old colonial palace in Yangon, Myanmar. (Thinkstock)

March 22, 2013: Schmidt became the first top  U.S. executive to visit Myanmar after its decades-long military dictatorship. There he promoted a free and open internet in a country ripe for IT expansion.

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The Economic Times of India says it has heard from unnamed sources that Apple plans to “triple its exclusive stores to around 200 by 2015″ in the country. “Exclusive stores” are certified by Apple as official resellers of Apple products — and only Apple products. They are owned by local franchisees, not Apple. The plan is said to be a part of an “aggressive” growth strategy that will also put more Apple products on the shelves of other retailers that sell competing products too.

iPhones and iPads are still pretty expensive for many locals, but Apple has made some moves to accomodate that. It started offering payment plans for its devices, much like it did in China.

There were 19 million smartphones sold in India last year. But there are estimates that by 2016 that number will be 108 million, according to IDC. Samsung has basically had the run of the smartphone market in India because of the lower price of the devices, selling about a third of all smartphones in the country last quarter.

Opening more outlets that sell iPhones is one formula to try to improve sales. But a bigger part of that equation is probably changing how local customers think of the brand. Apple’s own stores are a huge part of its success in the last decade, especially in established markets like the U.S. and Europe — and right now we’re seeing the relationship of a growing number of Apple Stores, an improving brand image and product sales momentum play out in China.

But there’s a sticking point in India Apple right now can’t overcome: Single-brand stores can be owned by foreign companies in India, but legally they have to source 30 percent of their wares from Indian companies. Until Apple starts making devices or components in India, it looks like there won’t be any Apple Store any time soon.

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The article, which I found by way of Sammy Hub, suggests that Samsung has agreed to create an entry-level smartphone priced at or near $100, the cost of which can be financed at no interest. This puts the target price near that of a Samsung 3G phone in India. Cheap voice, text and data plans for the LTE phone would then begin as low as as low as Rs 100 ($1.83) per month, although that’s likely a very limited plan.

But the development may have broader implications as well, with one Times of India source suggesting a bigger role for Samsung:

“Samsung will not be just another vendor to RIL supplying handsets as it was when Reliance Infocomm was launched in 2002. They are seeking a much broader role. A possible joint venture could also be in the offering.”

If true, that could give Samsung an even more prominent foothold in the populous nation and make it more difficult for both other LTE Android handset makers as well as Apple, to build up market share in the country. It’s still too early to make that call, however, as RIL isn’t expected to officially launch the LTE network until late this year (although a soft launch is expected in Mumbai and Delhi by mid-year.)

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The Indian sites will join Gawker’s new Spanish-language version of Gizmodo — which launched on Monday — as well as local versions of various Gawker sites that have launched in Brazil, Hungary and the United Kingdom. In some cases, as with India, the local sites are run by partners in that country, and consist of translated blog posts from the U.S. site as well as some local content created by those partners.

Gawker’s partner in Brazil — a media entity called F451 — runs native versions of four Gawker sites (Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jezebel and Jalopnik) while the company’s partner in Japan runs just a local version of Gizmodo. And in Hungary, the Gawker presence consists of a site called Cink.hu, which isn’t really a copy of any of the blog network’s other sites and is run by Laszlo Szily, who worked for Denton when the Gawker founder was a Financial Times correspondent in Hungary.

Gizmodo’s new Spanish site and the Hungarian site are new variations on the model because they aren’t based on partnerships with local operators like the Times of India — they are both owned and operated by the U.S. company, using staff who write in the other language (although both will also run translated versions of Gawker content). Some of the staff at Gizmodo’s new Spanish version are based in New York and others in Spain, a result of Gawker’s recent acquisition of a local Gawker-style site called Guanabee, whose founder now runs Gizmodo en Espanol.

Gawker wants international to be 20 percent of revenue

I asked Denton whether the company is expanding internationally because growth in the U.S. market has slowed and he said no — according to the Gawker CEO, the blog network says it expects to see 40-per-cent growth in 2013, an even faster rate than it saw in 2012, although Denton didn’t say whether that was revenue or some other metric (Update: Denton clarified to me via Twitter that he meant revenues). He also said he wants to take international revenues to 20 percent of Gawker’s sales from the 5-per-cent level they are at currently, and that international deals are much more lucrative for Gawker because the profit margins are higher,.

As for what comes next, Denton said China is the biggest hole in Gawker Media’s portfolio of international properties. The company has been trying to set something up there but hasn’t been able to find the right local partner yet, he said, and therefore it may need to publish Chinese content from somewhere outside the country if it wants to make inroads into that market.

Denton also said that the company’s new Kinja platform has been a big part of the expansion, since it allows Gawker sites to host more active conversations and discussions than the previous version — including discussions that are sponsored by advertisers. Gawker launched the new platform last year, and Denton told me in an interview at the time that the focus on discussions awas going to be a big part of the future of Gawker.

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Two tip-offs tell me that the Grand won’t likely come to the U.S. or any other country where high-end, expensive smartphones are considered the norm. First, the first of the two Grand models to hit retail channels will offer dual-SIM capability. Support for multiple SIM cards is typically found in phones used in Africa and Asia, although they can be found in limited use outside of those regions.

Second, the Grand was actually spotted unofficially nearly a week ago on a Japanese site, which noted that the handset had “passed the authentication of the China Industry and Information Technology, effective December 07, 2012.” While this doesn’t guarantee the phone is destined for China, it certainly lends credence to the idea. Samsung is currently the top handset maker in China, but as Reuters pointed out last week, Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo are applying pressure to gain market share.

If the Grand is aimed at regions where inexpensive phones are desirable, it should provide a solid value. While the display resolution is low and the phone skips a high-performance quad-core chip with a 1.2 GHz dual core version, other specifications aren’t bad. An 8 megapixel rear camera is supplemented with a 2 megapixel sensor on the face of the Grand. A full gigabyte of memory, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 21 Mbps HSPA+ support and Android Jelly Bean software round out the device, making for a balanced smartphone experience.

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A Bloomberg story, quoting an Indian government official, reported that roughly two-thirds of the planned 500 MW of solar thermal power projects will likely be delayed or shelved before they are due for completion in the first half of 2013.

The assessment is a sober reminder that solar energy power plants are big construction projects that could be stalled by one of the many pieces that must come together to make them work. Securing permits and financing is typically a huge challenge even in places with policies and subsidies in place to promote solar energy development. California, for example, has seen delays and the demise of many solar energy projects. Historically, 30-40 percent of the proposed renewable energy projects (which would include not just solar but wind and others) have failed to become reality.

India has become a magnet for solar equipment manufacturers and power plant developers from around the world. The country’s national and state governments have incentives in place to entice solar energy development, and India indeed has become a big destination for solar panels from companies such as First Solar, Suntech Power and Trina Solar in the past two years.

India wants more renewable energy to help provide overall power — the country’s middle class, and accompanying GDP are growing rapidly, and power shortages are a common occurrence. About 25 percent of the country’s population, or 288.8 million people, have no access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. India also wants more clean power to help reduce its heavy carbon footprint.

Solar thermal power plants use mirrors to concentrate sunlight for producing steam, which then drives a turbine and generator to make electricity. India’s solar thermal developers are facing a shortage of the fluid that receives the sun’s heat to generate the steam because two major suppliers can’t produce it fast enough to meet demand, Bloomberg reported.

Heavy dust also is a problem for Indian solar thermal projects. Apparently developers are realizing that dust in the desert, where they are developing projects, can seriously disrupt the direct sunlight that maximizes the solar electricity production. That means their projects could end up generating far less profits than expected over time.

It should come as no surprise that dust can make a significant impact on the solar power plant performance and not just those that use solar thermal technology. Projects like First Solar’s solar panels in Abu Dhabi require regular washing to minimize the impact of dust, while First Solar’s other projects in the U.S. don’t need the hosedown.

Solar electricity accounts for a fraction of the world’s electricity supply, so solar power plant development is relatively new in the history of power generation. Better technology needs to come along to reduce the impact of dust on solar power generation or to create more accurate forecast and modeling of dust storms so that developers don’t end up spending money on projects before realizing that they have picked the wrong locations.

There also is trouble brewing in India’s effort to use renewable energy credits to boost solar energy development. Energy credits are associated with each project, and they are bought and sold by solar power plant owners to help finance future projects. Utilities could buy them to meet their government mandates for increasing the amount of clean power they must provide to their customers.

The Indian government is setting a range of prices for the current and future energy credits in an effort to provide assurances and some predictability for developers to map out their project finances into the future. But it recently announced policy changes that would lower the prices and likely cause investors and developers to rush to get their projects completed before the prices are set to fall, according to market research firm Bridge to India.

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The Arizona-based company said the hurricane is also disrupting the supply of components for its solar products, which include panels and trackers that prop up the panels and tilt them to follow the sun’s movement throughout the day. For 2012, First Solar now expects to generate $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion in sales — previously it was looking at $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion. Non-GAAP earnings should hit $4.40 to $4.70 per share, however, instead of $4.20 to $4.70.

The company issued the forecast along with its third-quarter financial results, which saw its sales decline year-over-year sales to $839.1 million from $957.3 million. First Solar posted a net income of $1 per share for the third quarter, down from $2.25 per share in the same period a year ago, thanks to charges related to its restructuring efforts to reduce costs. But still, a profit in a difficult year.

“The solar market remains challenging, but we are continuing to gain traction in the new sustainable markets we’re targeting and expanding our global presence,” said Jim Hughes, First Solar’s CEO, during a conference call with analysts.

First Solar executives highlighted the progress they have made in opening up new markets. The company has vowed to build its business in places with minimal government subsidies, which so far have been responsible for the rise of the global solar market. Europe has been the largest market, but the pace of its growth will likely slow over time as governments gradually reduce their incentives.

During the third quarter, the company announced it was chosen to build a 13 MW power plant for the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority. First Solar inked deals to sell its cadmium-telluride solar panels for a 25 MW project in the state of Rajasthan in India and for two other projects totaling 50 MW in the same state. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with a power plant operation and maintenance company in Indonesia to work on 100 MW of projects.

First Solar also hired Bruce Yung as its China manager during the third quarter. The company tried to crack the Chinese market before but hasn’t seen much success. Although China presents lots of opportunities, its government also is keen on boosting the domestic market for Chinese solar manufacturers.

In recent years, First Solar has been building its power plant development expertise and amassed an impressive pipeline of projects under development. That business is more lucrative – the company can make money from developing, building and operating solar power plants (for owners it sells the power plants to) that use its own solar panels. The company is building the largest solar power plant project in the U.S. – the 550MW Topaz Solar Farms in central California. The vast majority of the 3 GW of projects under development that it’s inked power sales agreement contracts for are in North America.  Now the company’s hope is to develop solar power plants in other parts of the world.

First Solar has no intention of conquering the rooftop segment – its panels are less expensive but also less efficient at converting sunlight into electricity as other major brands. That means an array with First Solar’s panels will take up more space than the one with more efficient solar panels. Hughes also told analysts that the rooftop market has less brand loyalty and cares less about how well the solar panels will perform over decades.

Photos of Topaz Solar Farms by Ucilia Wang

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Apple’s newest smartphone is reportedly set to go on sale in India on Nov. 2, according to a report in India’s Economic Times on Friday. But it’s not the only big country Apple’s planning to launch in soon: on Apple’s earnings call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook told investors that the device would hit China sometime before the end of the year. That Apple plans to fill orders in those two populous countries –at the same time that it’s still weeks behind fulfilling orders in the U.S. and elsewhere — leaves little hope that Apple will catch up on backorders anytime soon.

The Economic Times report claims that the iPhone 5 launch had been pushed back in India, but that Apple is beginning to stock iPhone 5 inventory at several retail partners in the country in time for a launch next week. “A November 2 launch is certain and the stock is expected to start arriving at the master distributors Redington India and Ingram Micro within next two to three days” and pre-ordering will kick off in the next day or so, according to unnamed sources quoted by the Times.

A month after launch the iPhone 5 is for sale in 31 countries. But the wait is three to four weeks for a new device at many carriers and retailers, including Apple itself.

There are two issues plaguing iPhone 5 supply: intense demand coupled with a tricky manufacturing and building process. The company sold 5 million of the phones the first weekend it was available, but could likely sell more if it wasn’t having trouble getting them out of the factories in China. The builder of the iPhone 5, China’s Foxconn, says it’s the “most difficult device Foxconn has ever assembled.” The complicated design reportedly requires extreme precision when it comes to assembly.

Even when asked directly, Cook refused to say on the earnings call yesterday whether Apple would bring its iPhone supply in balance with demand by the end of 2012, which coincides with the all-important holiday sales period:

I’m not projecting whether supply/demand will balance, I’m saying I’m confident we’ll be able to supply quite a few [iPhone 5 units] during the quarter. But I can’t tell when that balance occurs, i can’t say. Demand is very robust.

That answer was certainly not a “yes.” The holidays plus India coming on board will be one challenge, but China is an even bigger beast. The country and its surrounding region represented 15 percent of Apple’s revenue in the last fiscal year, or about $24 billion. Apple’s products are in extremely high demand there — this is the country, after all, in which customers rioted and threw eggs at an Apple Store when it didn’t open on time for iPhone 4S sales earlier this year.

Apple has repeatedly reminded us that this is the company’s fastest rollout of a product yet. But that rollout hasn’t been without problems that could potentially sour customers on the brand if forced to wait weeks or months for something they’ve paid for. Granted, having outsize demand for your latest product is a problem most companies would kill to have.

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