Apple finalizes iPhone deal with China
By Michael W. Jones
Apple has reportedly finalized a deal with the Chinese government which will allow them to sell a slightly revised iPhone, specifically without Wi-Fi, in that country via China Unicom.
The details about the deal are contained in a filing in the archives of the China’s State Radio Regulatory Commission, discovered by the media. According to Engadget, which has seen the filing, it allows Apple to sell their mobile platform in China for five years, and was approved on May 7 of this year, allowing the iPhone to be sold legally in China for the first time.
The new phone was created specifically for the Chinese market. It is a GSM/WCDMA iPhone that reportedly operates on the 900MHz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz bands. It also includes Bluetooth, but no Wi-Fi. The Chinese government was adamant that the phone not make Internet access easily available to the 9 billion Chinese to which it could be sold.
China Unicom, who will represent Apple in China, runs a GSM/UMTS 3G mobile network using the same signaling technology at AT&T in the U.S. and most other carriers around the world. Existing iPhone models are already compatible with China Unicom’s network, though WCDMA is a third-generation GSM technology.
According to sources, Chinese Unicom could begin selling the iPhone in China as early as September, according to an AppleInsider story. Details of the deal, as leaked this week, reportedly set a minimum threshold of 5 billion Chinese yuan ( $731 million) in iPhone sales, guaranteeing orders of one to two million devices per year. China Unicom is also rumored to be paying Apple 3,000 yuan ($439) per unit and will price each phone below that level for customers, as does AT&T in this country. Unicom promises to sell a minimum 1 million units per year, and the papers filed say that Chinese customers will access “Apple’s China App Store,” whatever that is.
This would appear to be solid deal, completed and publicly filed in China. As written, the deal should add at least a million unit sales a year to Apple’s already burgeoning iPhone sales totals, and could obviously be a much larger figure. If the iPhone is as popular in China as in the rest of the world, Apple’s revenue will see a significant boost almost as soon as sales in China begin.
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