14 DAY TRIAL // China Unicom, the wireless operator in the Republic of China, will launch Apple’s iPhone 4 in September, Caixin media group announced on Monday, citing a source within Unicom.
According to a report by MarketWatch, Caixin media group reported on its website on Monday that Apple will launch iPhone 4 in China in the first part of September.
Apple’s chosen carrier partner is China Unicom, which recently started selling a WiFi-enabled version of the iPhone 3GS.
Until recently, the Chinese government did not allow the sale of Wi-Fi products. The effort was to promote an alternative WAPI wireless networking standard.
Unicom will also be responsible with selling the iPad in China, although the tablet device will not go on sale in tandem with the new iPhone.
No timeframe was given either, for when Apple’s iPad will be purchasable in the country.
Apple is known to have experienced major growth in China recently. During the most recent quarterly earnings conference call, the company’s COO, Tim Cook, reported 144 percent growth in the territory.
There’s good news for South Korea iPhone fans too, as pre-orders can now be placed for the handset in the country.
KT Corporation is “hoping” the latest iPhone will sell as well as previous models did when customers begin pre-ordering the handset this Wednesday.
"We hope the iPhone 4 will draw a hot response from clients as the iPhone 3 did," a KT Corp. representative said on Monday.
This person reportedly noted that iPhone 4 should be available in South Korea no later than September.
KT Corp. is known to have received approximately 65,000 pre-orders when iPhone 3G pre-sales kicked off in South Korea.
Customers lining up as early as 26 hours in advance have helped Apple move more than 850,000 iPhones in South Korea since the 3GS model began selling in November 2009. according to a report by TUAW.