China Unicom to announce the iPhone today and launch it in October
It looks like China Unicom and Apple have finally reached an agreement regarding the release of iPhone 3G in the world’s largest mobile market.
The Chinese website Sina reports that China Unicom, the country’s second largest mobile carrier, will announce Apple’s smartphone today, August 28.
China Unicom will offer the iPhone 3G in both its versions: 8GB and 16GB. The smartphone is already available in China, but only on the grey market, where it’s sold for prices between 3,600 and 4,000 CNY ($526 – $585).
Obviously, China Unicom will sell the iPhone subsidized. According to 163.com, the iPhone 3G 8GB will cost 2,500 CNY ($365) when bought with a monthly plan of at least 186 CNY (about $27) and a contract agreement for 2 years. Pretty expensive.
The iPhone 3G should be available for purchase from China Unicom starting October. For the beginning, the smartphone will not feature Wi-Fi. iTunes and the App Store might also be excluded from its feature set.
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 Unicom to offer amnesty to jailbroken grey market iPhone owners
- China Unicom to start selling iPhones on October 30
- China Unicom officially confirms Apple deal; iPhone will be launched in Q4
- iPhone 3G S may hit China in Q4 2009 as China Unicom and Apple sign 2-year deal
- China Unicom to launch iPhone on Oct. 15th. $293 for 8G, $439 for 16G on a 2 year, $27 a month contract
« Facebook 3.0 for iPhone finally launched5 million Star S5230 phones already sold by Samsung »