For the record, Dow Jones has further confirmation that China Unicom and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) are talking about a deal for the iPhone, says CEO Chang Xiaobing, although there are still no details. “Asked about Chang’s comments, China Mobile Chief Executive Wang Jianzhou said the company is still in talks with Apple, but declined to comment further.”

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The Guardian notes that the delay might cost Apple significantly, beyond the 2 million jail-broken iPhones and forgeries that are already in China: “China Mobile - which controls more than 70 percent of the Chinese mobile market - has its own plans for a rival called the ‘OPhone’. For the government-owned company (as all China’s major telecoms firms are) the objective is return of the value of that market sector to the country; though much of it is manufactured in China, 80 percent of the value is exported along with the device.”