China Mobile is expected to launch the iPhone on its network in the near future, but with some functionality removed to comply with regulations in the country. Various reports from within the country have noted that 3G and WiFi will apparently be disabled on the Chinese model.
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, the company that puts together iPhones for Apple is waiting for confirmation from China to give the ‘green light’.
China Mobile is expected to build out its own 3G network using the Chinese TD-SCDMA format. By disabling the 3G functionality, it would make the iPhone less appealing to users that might want to buy it and unlock it to work on the W-CDMA network that rival China Telecom manages.
Talks had broken up between Apple and China Mobile back in January, but they resumed in July. Apparently talks resumed because Apple is no longer insisting on revenue-sharing within the Chinese Market.
[Via: Cellular News]