iPhone deal for China under way, revenue sharing not included
Apple has been able to talk at least 70 countries into being part of the global iPhone rollout later this year, but surprisingly China will have no part in this. Apple will lose a significant chunk of revenue if they can’t get the largest mobile phone market to play nice with them. Good thing for Apple, the road to China may have finally swung open.
Because the iPhone 3G will not be sold under the same terms as the first-gen model, that is, without revenure sharing between Apple and the telcos, China’s top mobile operator may finally jump in on the iPhone cake. A spokesperson from China Mobile Ltd says the “biggest hurdle” is finally cleared, and the remaining issue now has something to do with practicality.
China Mobile spokeswoman Rainie Lei’s statement goes:
“Apple is no longer insisting on a revenue-sharing policy, so the biggest hurdle for China Mobile to bring in the iPhone has been cleared, but there are practical issues still to be resolved.”
And as such, China Mobile is now looking into bringing the iPhone to China, and apparently is more open to just subsidizing it instead of sharing their revenues with Apple.
An iPhone deal for China has not been sealed yet, though, so there’s still no way to know when the iPhone will finally be released there. But it’s almost certain to happen later this year, with Russia possibly jumping in on the iPhone bandwagon as well.
Via Reuters
Enjoyed the story? Get the news and updates as we publish them. For instant updates as we press the "Publish" button, click here to follow us on Twitter . To subscribe to RSS News Feed click here , for daily e-mail updates click here .If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:
- China Mobile in final stages of talks with Apple to bring iPhone to China
- iPhone 3G S may hit China in Q4 2009 as China Unicom and Apple sign 2-year deal
- iPhone 3G to finally hit China this spring
- China Unicom officially confirms Apple deal; iPhone will be launched in Q4
- Report: 8 million iPhones sold and counting
« Nokia N96 online interactive demo goes live… for about a minute or soNokia quietly slips Series 40 6th Edition with Supernova handsets; what’s in it? »