China Unicom is again denying reports that it has closed a deal with Apple, according to the Associated Press. "Talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time, but no agreement has been reached yet," says Unicom spokesman Yi Difei. "There are all kinds of possibilities. There is no particular timetable for the talks," he elaborates.

Thursday reports suggested that the carrier had ordered 5 million iPhones from Apple, at a cost of 10 billion yuan, or roughly $1.46 billion US. Sales to the public would allegedly have begun as soon as September. Yi categorically denies such claims, insisting they are "not true."

Unicom is nevertheless thought to be close to a deal, due to the Chinese's government's approval of an iPhone model without Wi-Fi. Cellphones are not typically allowed to have Wi-Fi in the country, since unrestricted connections could be used to easily circumvent censorship. A number of foreign iPhones are nevertheless known to have been smuggled into China through the gray market.