3 deal brings iPhone to China…some parts, anyway

I like to think that over at 1 Infinite Loop there’s some giant room with a huge board in it—a big board if you will—showing all the countries in the world. In the middle of it all sits Steve Jobs in a comfy captain’s chair, calmly dictating who can announce their iPhone carrier deals: “Norway, Sweden, you are green….Hong Kong, Macau, go.”

That’s right: Hutchison Telecom, also known as wireless provider 3 (ah, ah, the letter three, my friend) has announced that they’ve signed up with Apple to distribute the iPhone in Hong Kong and Macau—two of three places they run 3G networks, the third being Israel. Hong Kong and Macau are both “special administrative regions” of the People’s Republic of China.

As of yet, the PRC does not have an iPhone deal in place, despite the fact that Apple had reputedly engaged in talks with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile provider, earlier this year; those discussions allegedly broke off over negotiations about profit-sharing.

While this might make it easier for some Chinese citizens to acquire an iPhone, for now it means they’ll still need to SIM unlock them if they want to use them in mainland China.

Category: News

Posted by Dan Moren on May 29 2008, 11:55 AM ET

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iPhone illustration by Joe Zeff Design Inc. // Design by Jason Brightman