Apple and China Unicom have finally succeeded in reaching an agreement to bring the iPhone to China. Details are scarce at this point, but China Unicom officials revealed during a press conference on its recent financial results that it has made a three-year deal to sell the iPhone, and it should go on sale later this year. “This will provide users with brand new communication and information experience,” according to a statement released by China Unicom.
The deal is the result of a long and winding process. Apple originally hoped to work out a deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest carrier. However, China Mobile balked at Apple’s original revenue sharing model. When Apple launched the iPhone 3G and moved to a more common subsidized model, negotiations began again with China Mobile, but supposedly broke down over operation and control of the App Store.
Meanwhile, Apple began negotiations with China Unicom, the country’s second largest carrier, sometime early this year. It’s believed that being second made China Unicom more willing to court Apple, and its recently built WCDMA 3G network was a perfect fit for the iPhone. (Most carriers in China use a homegrown, Chinese-specific 3G network). Apple apparently made a few concessions, including disabling the WiFi feature—which is prohibited on mobile phones by Chinese law—and adding what appears to be a China Unicom startup screen. Most recently, Apple executives traveled to China to hammer out the final details with China Unicom—today’s announcement suggests those negotiations went well for both companies.
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