O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Unicom

  • Rumor: Foxconn Prepping WAPI iPhone for Chinese Marketplace

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    Long-time component supplier and Apple partner Foxconn is reportedly preparing a WAPI-based iPhone handset that will be distributed to China Unicom. Per Cloned in China, WAPI is the local wireless standard that is compatible with Wi-Fi, unlike the current iPhone version which omits the Wi-Fi functionality due to government regulations.

    The lack of Wi-Fi has been considered a significant factor in the modest sales numbers following the iPhone launch in China. China Unicom reportedly sold only 300,000 iPhones by the end of 2009, moving only 5,000 handsets sold during the launch weekend.

    Instead of buying the official Chinese version of the iPhone, which begins around US$1,025, many customers instead opted to import a standard iPhone from another country and unlock the device upon arrival.

    Final pricing and launch information for the WAPI iPhone remains unknown.

  • Apple, China Mobile Still in Talks Over iPhone Distribution

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    Following up on the story that Apple settled on wireless carrier China Unicom to distribute the iPhone in China last week, Apple is apparently still in talks with China Mobile to sort out a distribution deal with the company.

    According to Macworld UK, the talks between Apple and China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier by subscribers, have reached no conclusion yet, a China Mobile spokeswoman said Tuesday. An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the company’s three-year distribution deal with China Unicom is not exclusive, but did not say if the company is in talks with other potential partners.

    China Unicom will offer the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, with the first handsets going on sale in the fourth quarter. The company began its talks with Apple two years ago, but China Unicom, which operates a 3G network compatible with the iPhone, became seen as the favorite for an iPhone deal in recent months.

    One snag in China Mobile’s talks with Apple was the carrier’s plan for its own mobile application store, which was seen as a potential competitor with the iPhone App Store. Another was China Mobile’s use of a mobile standard for its 3G network that was domestically developed and is not compatible with current iPhone models.

    The app store and 3G standard snags could remain in any talks. The China Mobile download store went online last month and supports handsets including “Ophones,” or devices that run a China Mobile operating system but have a layout very similar to an iPhone.

    Some details of the iPhone launch could still pose problems for China Unicom as well, including how and whether revenue from the App Store should be shared, one analyst said.

  • China Unicom Spokesman Denies Five Million Unit Advance iPhone Purchase

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    Albeit all signs are currently pointing towards China Unicom acting as the exclusive iPhone carrier in China before two long, Unicom’s upfront buy of five million iPhone units seems to be in question. According to Cellular News, China Unicom’s spokesman Yi Difei declared about the 5 million order rumors that they are “not true”.

    However, the spokesman did say that “talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time”, albeit without reaching an agreement yet.

    Tiffany Yang, an Apple spokeswoman in Beijing, also said that there are no clear details about iPhone’s official launch in China.

    Current guesses point towards a launch in September, though final details have yet to surface for that country’s launch.

  • Chinese iPhone Gains State Approval

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    Over on the China State Regulatory Commission web site (basically the Chinese version of the FCC), the government has apparently approved a GSM/WCDMA cell phone complete with Bluetooth, an internal model number A1324 by Apple Inc. According to Engadget, the device was approved on May 7th, 2009 with the approval certificate set to expire in five years.

    That being said, China Unicom should have plenty of time to capitalize on its reported three-year deal to offer the phone in mainland China.

    And to sweeten the deal, an image of what may be the Chinese iPhone…

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  • Apple, China Mobile Apparently Reach Terms Regarding Chinese iPhone Marketplace

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    After about two years of negotiation, wireless carrier has allegedly landed a three-year contract for the exclusive rights to local iPhone distribution, according to MacNN and a Shanghai Securities News report. The deal, described by unnamed sources, is said to extend for three years and guarantees annual sales of 1 million to 2 million units.
    Apple recently acknowledged that bringing the iPhone into the Chinese market held a top priority. The recent report suggests the potential carriers could not come to agree on revenue sharing terms. Soon after the first iPhone was released, sources claimed AT&T was paying between US$150 to US$200 per purchased phone and an additional US$9 for each month of the standard two-year duration of a customer subscription.

    Beijing reportedly objected to the idea of revenue sharing, although the carrier has agreed to purchase the devices for 3,000 yuan (~US$439 USD) each. The terms also mandate a minimum overall revenue of at least 5 billion yuan (~US$732 million USD) every year.

    China Mobile, with a much larger subscriber base than China Unicom, was also involved in negotiations for the iPhone.

    The Chinese iPhone is expected to be customized for the local market, although specific details remain unconfirmed. An anonymous source recently claimed that component provider Foxconn has already begun mass production. The device is said to keep 3G and Bluetooth, while omitting Wi-Fi to comply with local regulations.

    Finally, Agence France-Presse has quoted a Unicom spokesman as saying that while the carrier is close to a deal, there are still problems to be negotiated. “Both sides have their own timeframe for an agreement but essentially it depends on the practical progress of the negotiations,” according to the spokesman. He adds that proper negotiations with Apple began in January, when the Chinese government began issuing 3G licenses.