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Via Retuers, The Shanghai Securities News is reporting that Apple and Chinese mobile operator China Unicom have reached an agreement regarding sales of the iPhone in China. Unlike other deals that include a revenue sharing clause whereby Apple receives a cut of the customer’s monthly bill, China Unicom will be buying the iPhone outright and and then reselling it to customers. The operator has a 3 year exclusivity deal with the iPhone in China, and will be buying the iPhone from Apple at $439 per unit. Under the agreement, China Unicom is expected to hit at least $732 million per year in revenues as well as shift between 1 and 2 million iPhones in the same amount of time. Apple and China Unicom could not be reached for comment. For a country with so many people, 3-6 million iPhones in 3 years sounds like a gross underestimate. It’s also about time this deal happens, these two have been in negotiations for over a year.
Update: Engadget Mobile has more information, quoting a China Unicom spokesperson who told AFP reporters that: “we have made progress but there are still some problems to be resolved.” Looks like the Chinese are going to have to continue tapping the grey market to get their iPhone fix.
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
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