ChinaTechNews reports that a rumor has been circulating through the Chinese Interwebs. Supposedly China Unicom, one of the major mobile service providers in China, has signed with Apple and will introduce Apple’s 3G iPhone to the masses in China in August this year.
China Unicom has not made any comments on the situation. However, at WWDC this past June 9th, Apple reported that the iPhone will add support to two new languages of Chinese and Japanese and will embed a Chinese hand written inputting method.
Apple previously held negotiations with China Mobile, a main competitor of China Unicom, on bringing iPhone to China, but the negotiation was fruitless as iPhone’s operation pattern of sharing the calling fee with the operators does not conform to China’s national situation.
Additional thoughts: China is a massive untapped market. If Apple can penetrate China, there is potential revenue and market share that analysts and pundits may have quite possibly underestimated. For the sake of shareholders, our US economy, and everyone in between, let’s hope this rumor is true. We have all seen what a company like Microsoft can do to further our economy, now just imagine if a company with the “right” values and morals would be granted the same economical power. Apple definitely hits the current “sweet-spot” of consumer needs and expectations in digital technology and lifestyle. If Apple can enter China’s culture from the inside, and not demand that China understands Apple’s way of doing things, they might just thrive in this foreign market.
