China Unicom buys 5 million iPhones from Apple, ready for sale in September. Or no it did not
We promised, seriously promised, not to write about iPhones in China until it was a done deal.
Came the news it was a done deal. It read: "China Unicom, the potential exclusive distributor of iPhones in China, has poured 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) to buy 5 million units from Apple, ready to sell the first batch in September, local media reported on Wednesday."
And local media, was yet again, wrong and has made us break our solemn promise not to mention the bloody things again until it was a done deal.
For AppleInsider, which normally gets things right, said that China Unicom denied deal with Apple and denied the purchase of iPhones.
An official with China Unicom confirmed the company is in talks with Apple to be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in China but denied the report that the company purchased 5 million iPhones.
China Unicom spokesman Yi Difei told The Associated Press, "Talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time, but no agreement has been reached yet. There are all kinds of possibilities. There is no particular timetable for the talks."
Responding specifically to the news that the company had supposedly purchased RMB10 billion ($1.46 billion) of iPhone machines, Yi said: "The report is not true."
Note that a new WCDMA model of the iPhone, without Wi-Fi, has already been granted regulatory approval by the Chinese government. The new iPhone is reportedly a GSM/WCDMA model that operates on the 900MHz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz bands. It also includes Bluetooth, but no Wi-Fi, and has been approved for use in China for the next five years.
AppleInsider reports that in the past few weeks, there have been numerous reports that the two companies have entered into a three-year deal, but all of them have been quickly denied.
Nore more Mr Nice Guy. Not another word. The deal will be announced when it is set, set, not just set. That phrase was once used by a senior executive of the Sheraton group of hotels and deserves wider use.