Apple set to launch iPhone in China

grahamearnshaw

15 years ago

All iPhone stories should be taken with a grain of salt. It isn’t true until someone, preferably Steve Jobs, stands on a stage and says it is so. However, the word is that Apple is finally ready to launch its iPhone in China after rumored deals with China Mobile failed to materialise. According to China Business Network, Apple has now signed a deal with mobile operator Unicom to bring a specially built iPhone to China, launching in September.

Apple COO Tim Cook said in April that he wanted to offer the iPhone in China "within the next year" but the company has experienced problems with Chinese regulations on high-speed mobile internet. Apple’s Chinese models will therefore be sold with the Wi-Fi function disabled.

iPhonAsia’s Dan Butterfield says "while some consumers in China may prefer grey-market iPhones with Wi-Fi, there are many millions that have never used Wi-Fi on their phones and have only experienced 2G speeds. For this group, Wi-Fi might be a less important feature."

Strategy Eye reports the Chinese version of the iPhone 3G is already being tested in the China Telecommunication Technology Labs, under authorisation from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

This may well all be true. On the other hand, with the iPhone in China we have been fed so many stories — none by Apple — that if someone says it will be sold in sky-blue pink with a Finnan Haddie border it might just be so. Do not bet on it. Either way. For the record the writer does not use an iPhone. He uses a very old Nokia.