Just yesterday we reported on a rumor from the China Business News that China’s stat-owned wireless carrier had purchased 5 million custom-made iPhones from Apple. China Unicom was said to have paid 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) for a shipment of 5 million WiFi-less iPhones. Today, the Chinese carrier has publicly denied any and all reports that have China Unicom wrapping up an iPhone deal with Apple and buying up massive iPhone inventory.
“Talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time, but no agreement has been reached yet,” said Unicom spokesman Yi Difei. “There are all kinds of possibilities. There is no particular timetable for the talks.” As for the report that China Unicom purchased iPhones from Apple, Yi says “the report is not true.”
The China Business News said cited a sales manager for China Unicom’s subsidiary in Guangdong. The rumor had China Unicom launching the iPhone in China as soon as September. But, today’s rebuttal seems to have stopped those rumors dead in their tracks.
One way or another, the iPhone will eventually hit China. It’s only a question of which Chinese iPhone rumor turns out to be true.
[Via: CellularNews]