14 DAY TRIAL // A source from China Unicom has confirmed that Apple fans in the territory can expect iPhone 4 to go on sale on September 16, with the carrier including free cases for every customer, the English version of caing.com reports.
According to the China Unicom source, plans for a September 16 launch of the iPhone 4 remain intact.
The operator, which provides voice services, mobile services, and Internet broadband, will be the exclusive provider of Apple's iPhone in China, the report says.
Unicom has been responsible for the launch of the 8GB iPhone 3GS on August 9. The handset has sold well in China, statistics show.
Caing.com, owned by Caixin Media Company Ltd., claims to have learned that Chinese customers are likely to experience the same reception issues surrounding Apple’s new-generation smartphone.
However, China Unicom will be offering free iPhone cases to customers.
It is yet unclear whether the carrier is providing its customers with original Apple Bumpers, or protective cases manufactured by third-parties.
Apple maintains that signal strength is actually not a problem with the phone.
The company also offers free cases to every iPhone 4 owner who thinks their device is suffering from reception issues.
The free-case-program requires customers to download an iOS app from the iTunes App Store and use it to request a free case.
During a meeting with select members of the media, Apple noted that it wanted its customers to be happy, suggesting that employing a case was not necessarily a requirement to boost signal strength.
iPhone 4 has a revolutionary new design which uses the phone’s outer steel frame as the cellular and WI-FI antenna.
Apple has received hits for this new antenna design, following reports saying that reception is affected when the user touches the antenna.
The company contended with situation by diverting attention to other smartphone vendors which, according to Apple, had similar issues with their phones.