iPhone hits Mauritius before iTunes Store

Mark Twain once said:

From one citizen you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius. “

Apple might have gotten their order of operations in Mauritius reversed as well.  Orange is selling the iPhone in Mauritius but without an iTunes store.  That means that you can’t buy anything from Apple, but you can use the iTunes application to upload media.  Without a jailbreak there is no way to get your hands on any of those 100,000+ apps out there.

As Steven Sande notes at TUAW, Mauritian iPhone users are trying to get Apple to build them an iTunes store.  They’ve even set up a Facebook page.

We’ve confirmed Orange is definitely selling the iPhone in Mauritius though nowhere in the advertising do they mention that the iPhone can download apps, music or movies.  In fact, it is conspicuously absent.

Not to worry though citizens of Mauritius, Apple has just hired Liesbeth Matthieu to be its iTunes Localization Producer.  She’s got a French and English background which should be perfect for building out an iTunes store for your French-English populace.