China Mobile iPhone preorders to launch Thursday, says WSJ

A customer support rep for the carrier confirmed the preorders to The Wall Street Journal.

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Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

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Lance Whitney

Dec. 9, 2013 5:33 a.m. PT

China Mobile subscribers will finally get a shot at the iPhone.

The country's largest carrier has unveiled a promo page touting the upcoming preorders for the iPhone and other smartphones, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The promotion is designed to drum up interest in phones that can take advantage of China Mobile's new 4G network.

A China Mobile spokeswoman told the Journal that she couldn't comment on the ad. But a rep for the carrier confirmed to the newspaper that subscribers will be able to preorder the iPhone starting Thursday. China Mobile currently is putting together prices for the new iPhone but hasn't yet revealed the details to customer support employees, the rep added.

The Journal said last week that China Mobile had finally sealed a deal with Apple to carry the iPhone.

CNET contacted Apple and China Mobile for comment and will update the story with any further details.