Apple iPhone for China
According to state media consumer electronics and computer firm Apple and mobile network operator China Mobile are in the final stages of talks that would pave the way for the official launch of Apple’s iPhone in China. (Unofficially it is already there in large quantities.)
Unnamed sources told the state-run 21st Century Business Herald that the two companies will complete talks soon.
China Mobile, which has over 415 million subscribers, had previous stated that the main obstacle to bringing the iPhone to China had been swept away when Apple dropped its revenue sharing demands.
Separately, China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou told reporters at a telecom conference that he and Apple chief Steve Jobs ‘are discussing the issue, but we do not have an agreement yet.’
An article at it.hexun.com which cites a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as its source says:
China Mobile will procure the handsets for their full price, and then on-sell subsidized handsets to consumers. The source explained that China Mobile could buy a 3G iPhone from Apple for $299 — an example price — and then sell the handset to users for $199, treating the additional $100 as compensation to Apple.
No mention is made of the half a million or more iPhones currently being used in China. They did not come through official channels and therefore do not appear to count.
Source: Yahoo News