Apple's iPhone Will Come to China. Or It Won't. Or It Will

At the beginning of 2008, after many rumors and speculations, China Mobile said its negotiations with Apple to bring the iPhone in China had been called off. This although Apple never mentioned anything about having official discussions with the Chinese carrier (despite the fact that many mobile users would want to have an iPhone).

More recently, meaning a few days ago, Reuters reported that Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's Chief Executive, said: "We have not yet officially begun talks with Apple over the iPhone problem." However, Wang Jianzhou also added: "As long as our customers want this kind of product, we will keep all options open." Which means that, if Apple and China Mobile reach an agreement beneficial for both sides, Chinese users will finally get the chance to buy the craved iPhone. To buy it legally I mean, because the handset can already be bought, unlocked, on the Chinese black market. And people are really buying it, since there are more than 400,000 units sold this way.

Until now, Apple managed to ship more than 4 million iPhones worldwide, and this number would have been considerably larger if the company had released its handset in China too. The country has the highest number of mobile subscribers in the world (more than 520 million), and it's obviously one of the most important markets for all the leading handset manufacturers.

With more than 376 million subscribers, China Mobile is not only the largest mobile operator in the country, but also the largest in the world, so a deal with them will surely bring Apple substantial profits. Anyway, even if the iPhone will not come via China Mobile, it can still hit the Chinese market if Apple makes a deal with China Unicom, the second largest carrier in the country (more than 150 million subscribers). There have also been rumors saying the iPhone will first be sold in China via D.Phone, a leading mobile phones retailer, but until now there are no official details about this.

Since we're already in 2008, Apple might want to wait until the 3G iPhone is rolled out, to enter the Chinese market directly with the latest version of the handset. But this would only mean the users form China must wait even more. In any case, China definitely wants the iPhone (even if it's priced at about $500, much more than a normal Chinese user can afford), so Apple should seriously try to make it available as soon as possible.


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