iPhonAsia comment: The following is guesswork … In reference to iPhone in China, Steve Jobs said in January 2008 - “I think someone is just making this stuff up” … iPhonAsia will plead guilty to this charge, albeit we do our best to offer our “wild ass guesses” only after doing diligent research. Yet guesswork it is.
Given political sensitivities, Apple would likely conclude carrier deals with PRC (China Mobile and/or China Unicom) before finalizing a deal with a Taiwan carrier. It appears that Apple has indeed done their deal(s) with PRC and likely obtained permission to engage with Taiwan.
The PRC’s TD-SCDMA network is in 2nd stage build-out with 3rd stage deployment coming in just days. iPhonAsia believes that 3G licenses could be issued to China Mobile (TD-SCDMA), China Unicom (W-CDMA) and China Telecom (CDMA2000) in the next 90 days.
Based on research and guesswork, iPhonAsia believes that China Mobile has deals with HTC, Nokia and Apple, to deliver TD-SCDMA ready handsets. 18 of the 20 currently available TD-SCDMA ready handsets are manufactured by Chinese OEMs. These OEMs are struggling as TD-SCDMA sales have been slow during the initial network test/rollout. The 3rd stage TD-SCDMA deployment will begin this month with plans to add 162 new cities to the TD network. China Mobile does not want to kill TD handset sales dead in their tracks … and that is precisely what might happen if they announce deals with three prominent handset manufacturers (HTC, Nokia and Apple). Consequently, the formal “iPhone in PRC” announcement may be deferred until the first quarter of 2009.
iPhonAsia believes that Apple’s deal with China Mobile is non-exclusive and a 2nd iPhone deal with China Unicom may be in the works. More details > HERE …. HERE … HERE … HERE … HERE … HERE … and HERE
More on iPhone in Taiwan via Taiwan News > HERE
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iPhone 3G coming to Taiwan before the end of the year
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Published on Taipei Times Read full post > HERE TAIPEI DPA AND BLOOMBERG, Sunday, Nov 16, 2008  Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom services provider by revenue, and Apple Inc plan to jointly launch the third-generation Apple iPhone in Taiwan before the end of the year, the Taiwanese firm said yesterday.
The company “has signed a contract with Apple and will provide third-generation [3G] iPhone services in Taiwan before the end of the year,” Chunghwa Telecom said in a statement.
The company has yet to set service charges for the operation of the iPhone 3G, said the official, who asked not to be named. EXTENDING ITS LEAD Chunghwa Telecom, competing against Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far Eastone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), will be the first operator in Taiwan to offer the phone in a bid to extend its lead over competitors.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday that Apple granted Chunghwa Telecom the exclusive right to sell iPhones because of the Taiwanese firm’s large sales channel. As the iPhone is very attractive to most mobile users, its introduction will not only gain attention from people who adore Apple gadgets, but also act to move subscribers from other telecom operators to Chunghwa Telecom, made possible by the number portability service, the newspaper said. Number portability refers to a service that allows mobile subscribers to use their previous cellphone numbers when they change operators. BIG MARKET Taiwan has one of the world’s highest cellphone usage rates at 102.5 subscriptions for every 100 citizens, Chunghwa Telecom said. The company had 8.9 million cellphone subscribers at the end of September and gets around 40 percent of revenue from its wireless business. The iPhone 3G became the most popular handset among US consumers last quarter, passing Motorola Inc’s Razr, research firm NPD Group said on Monday. The new version of the iPhone operates on so-called 3G networks, which are much faster for data downloads and Internet surfing than the Edge networks used by the original iPhone, released last year. Available in more than 50 countries, the new version also features a GPS location device.
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