Evidence Surfaces That iPhone May Be Coming Soon To China
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Two months ago during Apple’s quarterly financial call, COO Tim Cook said that their goal is to start selling the iPhone in the Chinese market “within the next year.”
SEE ALSO: China Unicom CEO Confirms iPhone Talks
Now MacWorld is reporting that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is showing signs of progress. The most compelling information is that a Chinese government organization is reporting on its web site that an Apple handset has been approved. The device, using a next-generation mobile standard, was cleared by the State Wireless Inspection Center last month. Currently, Apple is in talks with China Unicom over selling the iPhone. China Unicom operates on WCDMA, which was the standard listed on the approved Apple device.
Separately, Apple has also posted a job listing on its site for a Beijing-based position overseeing “iPhone training” across Asia. The position calls for designing a training for carrier partners that sell the iPhone.
However, the government approval of the device is just one of three tests the iPhone must pass to receive a network access license, and many other hurdles remain, such as whether the device can have Wi-Fi, or if it can come pre-installed with non-Apple programs, like a media player, and how sales from the App Store will be divided, according to Liu Ning, an analyst at BDA, a telecommunications research company.
@triciad
Jun 11, 2009 12:35 PM ET
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