Apple fans are eager to hear about the features of Apple’s second generation iPhone, expected to be announced Monday by Steve Jobs. Amidst that speculation, it’s easy to lose sight of Apple’s larger strategic goals, according to BusinessWeek on Friday. That’s the ability of the iPhone in international markets to fuel demand for all of Apple’s products.

So far, in the U.S., the EDGE Network iPhone lags behind in smartphone market share, according to data from IDC. RIM has 44 percent and Apple at 19 percent. However, by moving to a 3G wireless technology and expanding its markets worldwide, Apple stands to gain a lot.

While the iPhone is available right now in only six countries, Apple expects to have the iPhone for sale in 64 countries by the end of 2008. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster believes Apple could sell more than 40 million of the smartphones in 2009. RIM currently has only an estimated 20 million subscribers. Even better is that demand for the iPhone is great in countries and places where it cannot be officially used and must be unlocked.

It took the iPod four years to reach the 20 million unit sales mark.

The net result will be that the iPhone is poised to make Apple a stronger global player. [Historically, Apple has had weak spots in some of its international markets.] Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics advised that Apple must do three things to be successful internationally: "Expand its brand, expand its product portfolio, and broaden its international footprint."

The international adoption of the iPhone could lead to many good things for Apple. In a recent research note to investors, Shaw Wu of American Technology Research said: "We envision iPhone one day becoming as big as the current Mac business."

In the long run, if the iPod touch and iPhone lead to a new generation of Mobile Internet Devices (MID), Apple’s overall global business with all products could expand considerably.