China Mobile, Apple still in discussions over the iPhone

China Mobile is still talking to Apple about distributing the iPhone in the country even after rival China Unicom signed a distribution deal last week, PC World reported. A China Mobile spokesperson would only confirm that discussions are still on-going. A spokesperson for Apple said the company’s deal with China Unicom was not exclusive but would not confirm whether Apple was talking to other Chinese mobile phone carriers about distributing the phone. Potential barriers to successful talks include China Mobile’s plans for its own mobile application store and the fact that its third-generation (3G) mobile phone network is not compatible with Apple’s 3G iPhone. Many Chinese owners of unlocked iPhones smuggled into the country use the handsets on China Mobile’s 2G network, which uses the GSM and GPRS standards supported by Apple’s first iPhone model.