China Telecom sub-label Beijing Telecom stated Tuesday local time that a China Telecom-native iPhone 4S was expected within about a month. It said the CDMA version would "likely" reach the network by late February or early March, China Daily said. Apple's device had already been given regulatory clearance for China Telecom's network and would face few barriers.
Huawei began shipping its Honor smartphone to China Unicom late last week. The Honor joins the Galaxy Nexus in that it ships preloaded with Android 4.0, the latest mobile OS from Google. Otherwise, the handset has a single-core, 1.4GHz processor, 4-inch, 480x854 touchscreen and an eight-megeapixel camera with 1080p recording, autofocus and an HDR mode.
Best known for its computers and monitors, Dell has just announced it will soon offer its Streak Pro smartphone in China, a key market for the company. Already promised for the Japanese market, the device is the first with the Baidu Yi mobile platform from China's Internet search giant Baidu. It integrates the popular Ting music service and other cloud services also offered by the search engine.
Chinese iPhone 4S buyers received good news Saturday after it was confirmed that Apple's device had received a Network Access Permit from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier in the week. The clearance will give the HSPA version of the phone approval to run on China Unicom's network. Its version is identical to that available elsewhere save for its support of the China-specific WAPI standard in place of the usual Wi-Fi.
China Unicom is effectively ready to sell the iPhone 4S, according to MIC Gadget. "We will start sales once we get the certificate from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology," Unicom sales executive Yu Yingtao is quoted as saying. "It's not up to us. We've already done all of our preparations, we're just waiting on the permit."
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was reported on Monday as having approved the iPhone 4S for sale in China. The HSPA 3G version of the phone has passed government tests, clearing it for sale on China Unicom. It should get a network license this week, Sina claimed.
The GSMA have announced that 45 of the world’s major carriers have committed to supporting SIM-based Near Field Communications (NFC). Among the carriers to pledge their support of the new standard are AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, China Mobile and China Unicom, Vodafone, and Telefonica. In making the announcement, the GSMA have now published (PDF) a new set of industry specifications to further accelerate adoption of the technology.
Apple has finally discontinued 16 and 32GB models of the iPhone 4 for China Unicom, and the latter company is accelerating efforts to launch an 8GB version by the end of the month, sources close to the carrier claim. The company's general manager, Lu Yumin, has publicly stated that it is pushing to sell the iPhone 4S as soon as possible. Local reports suggest that while the 4S is still waiting for regulatory approval, it could ship by the end of 2011, preceded by an 8GB iPhone 4 as in the US.
China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou disclosed at ITU World on Monday that China Mobile had over 10 million unofficial iPhone users. He hinted that Apple hadn't reached a deal for the iPhone 4S but hadn't had problems attracting users, even with full-price unlocked devices. China Unicom is the only official Chinese carrier in the country.
China Unicom Deputy Director Huang Wenliang may have inadvertently spoiled Apple's plans for a big leap in 3G performance on GSM-based iPhones in a presentation on Wednesday. Pointing out network evolution over time at Macworld Beijing, he matter-of-factly claimed that the iPhone 5 would use 21Mbps HSPA+ data that China Unicom had been adding since 2010. The Impress account of events left room open for this to be anticipatory, although China Unicom would need to have some knowledge of Apple's long-term network plans.
Apple has announced plans to launch 3G models of the iPad 2 in China, which will join existing Wi-Fi options. The new hardware will go on sale Wednesday, made available through Apple's online and retail stores as well as authorized resellers. Prices have yet to be made public though, and Apple's only Chinese carrier partner -- China Unicom -- has yet to acknowledge the rollout. Unicom is in fact the only carrier in the country which can make use of the HSPA 3G supported by the iPad 2.
China Telecom may have an all-out marketing campaign for its iPhone 5 launch if details given by a purported corporate insider. Referred to as the "Dragon Plan" by the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, it would see the second-largest Chinese carrier spend the equivalent of $234.6 million to market Apple's hardware. Pre-orders would start in September with the expected release in October.
Apple should be on the verge of launching the 3G iPad 2 in mainland China, says the Wall Street Journal. An Apple device with the model number A1396 has won a network access license from China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, clearing the way for sales. The hardware notably supports WCDMA 3G, making it compatible with Apple's (so far) exclusive mainland carrier partner, China Unicom.
China Unicom executives have flown to the US for iPhone talks with Apple, a source claims. The person suggests that the purpose may be to sign a final contract for launching the iPhone 5 in China. Another source, described as an insider at Unicom, says that the carrier has set aside 1.5 billion yuan ($235 million US) for marketing a new iPhone.
Verizon COO and soon-to-be CEO Lowell McAdam during the conference call for spring results said his company was anticipating the next iPhone's launch in the fall. Although he claimed Verizon didn't know when the new model would ship, the carrier was planning for a "significant jump" in business during the fall. Verizon had anticipated a release in the summer but didn't get that.
At least China Unicom and China Telecom will be carrying the next-generation iPhone, claims Caixin. The Chinese analysis firm quotes an unidentified source. It adds though that China Mobile -- the world's largest cellphone carrier, with over 611 million subscribers -- will not be the first in the country to sell the new device.
China Unicom will "soon" send people to the US to discuss bring the 3G version of the iPad 2 to China, reports local website cctime.com as quoted by Bloomberg. In particular the information is said to come from Yu Yingtao, a manager at Unicom's sales department. Yu's information is also said to indicate though that the timing of a product launch is unknown, since it involves satisfying certain Chinese policies.
A late-night leak Tuesday has backed China Telecom carrying the iPhone by "close" to the end of 2011. Thanks to the existence of CDMA models, the company has all the technology and just needs to complete a deal. One Reuters tip warned that Apple's often strict negotiations didn't guarantee a deal, but another had the release narrowed down to November.
Apple's iPhone may be soon officially sold through carrier China Mobile, which is the world's largest carrier thanks to its 611 million subscribers. A research note from analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities pointed to a Sohu.com report of an iPhone with China Mobile ID and a TD-SCDMA connection that isn't available on any current iPhone model (pictured). Thus far, China Unicom is the exclusive official provider of the iPhone, though there are as many as 5.7 million iPhone users on China Mobile using stepped down connections.
China Unicom president Lu Yimin told investors late Tuesday that his company had started offering an ultra low-cost iPhone plan. The 66 yuan ($10) plan was about a third cheaper than before and designed to curb moves from other carriers. Company CEO Chang Xiaobing saw a "trend" towards rival carriers offering services with unlocked iPhones, according to Bloomberg's version of events.
China Telecom partly put to bed rumors of a deal with Apple by acknowledging that it was in talks for the iPhone. Chairman Wang Xiaochu said his company was "in touch" for a possible deal but couldn't say how far along any deal might be. The current carrier, China Unicom, has an exclusive that ends this year.
Chinese phone maker K-Touch has just shown off a new smartphone meant for the local market. The W700 is unusual in coming from a relatively unknown company but packing a high-end NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and 512MB of RAM. Android 2.2 is preloaded, leaving about 8GB of built-in storage space.
China Unicom on Monday broadcast its plans to develop its own phone OS. Wophone, named after the company's Wo service, would run a custom version of Linux and target both smartphones and tablets. The strategy would help phones get to market faster by being already tailor-made for the Chinese, it said.
Lenovo chairman Liu Chuanzhi in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland cast the new LePad tablet and LePhone as key to his company's survival against Apple. He viewed tablets and smartphones as essential since they would be the future of the computing business. Without a good offering, any company that couldn't stand up to the iPad and iPhone would be virtually non-existent, he explained to Bloomberg.
China Unicom has begun selling a contract-free version of the iPhone 3GS. An 8GB model -- the only 3GS currently produced by Apple -- is priced at 3,999 yuan, or about $603. Buyers can nevertheless sign up for a two-year service plan with between 33 and 58 yuan in free phone expenses per month, depending on the monthly fee package chosen.
The iPhone 4 is still doing very well in China, says Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. "We continue to believe that China remains in the early stages of catching 'Apple fever' and demand for iPhone 4 has been well above the ramp of the iPhone 3GS thus far," he comments. He adds that the iPhone 4 is "sold out for two months" every where it's officially available in China, including Apple Stores, authorized resellers and carrier China Unicom.
The iPhone 4 is perhaps the most difficult Apple product to find in China, claims a Ticonderoga Securities analyst, Brian White. Continuing a tour of the country, White notes that local wait times for the iPhone 4 are now closer to two months; he suggests that official carrier China Unicom is unable to fill roughly a third of pre-orders. Unmentioned by the analyst is the effect of scalping, since it's believed that many of the iPhones being sold are being picked up for resale with a markup.
Sales of Chinese iPhones have been "somewhat disappointing," says Morgan Keegan's Travis McCourt. The analyst claims that while the smartphone market has "exploded" in China during 2010, growing 200 percent year-over-year, Apple and BlackBerry maker RIM sold less than 500,000 phones last quarter. BlackBerries, in fact, are still only being sold to government and businesses in the country, according to McCourt. Apple and China Unicom have not officially announced recent iPhone numbers.
Carriers serving Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland are having a difficult time dealing with the country's iPhone 4 demand, a report suggests. China Unicom is said to be attributing the problem to Apple, noting that it has not kept up with orders. Unicom is believed to have ordered about 600,000 iPhone 4s, but there is no indication of how many have actually been delivered.
Carrier China Unicom is imposing new restrictions on local iPhone 4 buyers, according to Bloomberg. If purchased iPhones are separated from their bundled SIM cards, Unicom says, buyers may now have their deposits frozen. The move is explicitly aimed at curbing resales of the device, which have been causing serious problems for the company and the public at large.
A Deutsche Bank analyst fueled further talk of a CDMA iPhone with word of a possible China Telecom deal in a research note reported today. "Intensive" supplier checks purportedly showed that the second-largest Chinese carrier was talking not only to Apple but to the CDMA chipset supplier, Qualcomm, to guarantee a deal, according to the South China Morning Post's copy of the note. It wasn't said how close a deal might be or whether there would be any changes to the rumored American design.
China Unicom has managed to sell over 100,000 iPhone 4s since last Saturday's launch, according to the carrier's vice president, Li Gang. While fast, the sales still mean a backlog, as some 200,000 people had pre-ordered the phone as of last week. Gang says he only expects the next shipment of iPhone 4s to arrive on October 1st, China's national holiday.
China Unicom is having a hard time keeping up with the demand for the iPhone 4, according to official statements. The carrier notes that while it actually received some 200,000 pre-orders last week, only about 60,000 phones were sold during Saturday's launch. Of these 40,000 went to individuals, while 10,000 fulfilled direct distribution bulk orders. The remaining 10,000 units are not mentioned in a Unicom press release.
Apple tonight confirmed plans to launch the iPhone 4 in China and added the surprise of two new Chinese stores. The device will go on sale in the country on September 25 at 8AM local time. Official Apple stores will sell contract-free 16GB and 32GB models for 4,999 Renminbi ($743) and 5,999 Renminbi ($892); China Unicom will have it available on a two-year contract with prices to be revealed later.
Motorola on Monday officially released three new Ming-series handsets powered by Android. All are meant for the Chinese market, and include the Beihai MT810 for China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network, the Qilin XT806 for China Telecom’s CDMA network, and the Lucky A1680 for China Unicom’s WCDMA network. Each features Chinese handwriting support for their touchscreens.
China Unicom profits fell 54 percent in the second quarter, in spite of benefits from being the only official iPhone carrier in China, Bloomberg notes. The drop is attributed partly to discounts on phones, but mostly to marketing costs, which exceeded estimates. Unicom nevertheless attracted only 4.88 million subscribers in the quarter, as compared to China Mobile's 15.2 million. Mobile also continued to dwarf Unicom in overall subscribers, with 554 million versus 157 million.
China Unicom will officially launch the iPhone 4 on September 16th, a local source claims. While the carrier is generally believed to have set plans in motion, it has yet to formally announce details. A launch on the 16th would come just a little over a month after the availability of the first Wi-Fi-equipped Chinese iPhones.
China Unicom will soon be selling both the iPhone 4 and the iPad in China, according to Agence France-Presse, quoting local media sources. The iPhone 4 is expected to be launched next month, while the iPad has yet to be given a definitive timeframe. An official from China Unicom says he cannot confirm any deals.
As leaked yesterday, an iPhone with Wi-Fi will go on sale in China on Monday, a China Unicom spokesman confirms. Unlike other countries, China will only have access to an 8GB model with Wi-Fi, at least at first. Current 16 and 32GB models are being sold without the networking technology, says the Associated Press.
Apple will finally have the option of selling the iPhone 3GS in China with true Wi-Fi, an anonymous China Unicom official leaked out Thursday. Starting next week, the carrier should have the current 8GB model with the wireless feature finally enabled. It's not clear how the phone would be priced, but Apple has usually priced the phone elsewhere at the equivalent of $99 locked or better.
China Unicom is in talks to bring the iPhone 4 to mainland China, writes Agence France-Presse, translating a report from state newspaper China Daily. Unicom's general manager of sales, Yu Yingtao, explains that an agreement with Apple is expected to be reached by the fourth quarter of the year. The actual product launch could happen before the end of 2010, though no more precise dates are available.
Chinese cellphone maker Innpu has introduced what it claims are the first handsets with built-in retractable headphones. The W1860 and T1880 are meant to appease those who fear exposure of cell radiation to the user's head while freeing up their hands. Callers are more likely to use a headset while on the phone if they always have one available, Innpu claims.
China Telecom is reportedly reconsidering its previous stance regarding Apple products, as CEO Wang Xiaochu suggests the company is evaluating the market response for Apple's iPad before moving forward with formal talks, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
China Mobile is interested in selling the iPad, says the CEO of the carrier, Wang Jianzhou. Reuters notes that the executive spoke today at an annual shareholder's meeting, where he also claimed that the company is talking with Apple about developing a TD-SCDMA-capable iPhone, presumably a fourth-generation model. TD-SCDMA is not used outside of China, however, and so a separate iPhone design with a different 3G chipset would be needed.
Apple is indeed adjusting the iPhone to support China's local WAPI networking standard, says IDG News. The State Radio Monitoring Center is noted to have last month approved frequency ranges for a new Apple phone, covering both 3G and Wi-Fi technology. WAPI is mentioned in relation to Wi-Fi, which suggests progress in talks with China Unicom about upgrading the current Chinese iPhone. A WAPI-capable model could still support global Wi-Fi standards.
Microsoft's Kin phones are due to reach many many more carriers than just Verizon and Vodafone, based on a posting of raw data from leaked firmware. The scoop shows the One and Two, or possibly new models, also reaching the US through AT&T and T-Mobile in GSM versions, with Canada getting the phones through Rogers' sub-label Fido. Asia will also get a major lift with versions for both China Mobile and China Unicom as well as Japan's NTT DoCoMo and SoftBank.
Dell's plans to launch a new phone, as well as a port of an existing phone, have been given away in advance through the Chinese government's own Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center. The Mini 3T1 is completely new and would be a lower-cost phone with a smaller screen and a directional pad, either supplementing or replacing the touchscreen. It would also have a simpler two-megapixel camera (versus three on the Mini 3i) and support China Mobile's TD-SCDMA for 3G.
Samsung will soon begin shipping its I6500U Saturn handset in China, as evidenced by its popping up on Samsung China’s website. The device will be sold through China Unicom, for the equivalent of nearly $500, without any contracts, where it's called the Samsung Galaxy I6500U. The device has a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen with 480x320 resolution, 3G network support, a GPS sensor, Bluetooth 2.1 and an FM radio.
China Unicom will not retain a mobile Google search engine in any smartphones it sells, including those with Google's own Android operating system, according to a Thursday report. As Google didn't agree to the Chinese government's filtering of search results and withdrew search from mainland China to Hong Kong, the carrier has said it feels forced to provide a legal alternative. Instead, China Unicom will let the device manufacturers pick a different search engine to preload onto the smartphones, Android-powered or othwerwise.
Google today downplayed accusations that it was using ad revenue as a carrier incentive to push Android deals. The company said its search deals weren't limited to Android and that it shared revenue whenever Google was the default search engine. It added that such deals aren't uncommon, although it still declined to provide any details of its carrier arrangements.
