Apple reseller: iPhone coming to China in 2008

The iPhone is already in China: I saw one for sale today, and a friend really should call me more often from one. But Marbridge Daily <cnet:link externalURL="http://www.marbridgeconsulting.com/marbridgedaily/2008-01-09/article/7267/iphone_scheduled_for_q2

Graham Webster

Formerly a journalist and consultant in Beijing, Graham Webster is a graduate student studying East Asia at Harvard University. At Sinobyte, he follows the effects of technology on Chinese politics, the environment, and global affairs. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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Graham Webster

Jan. 10, 2008 10:08 a.m. PT

The iPhone is already in China: I saw one for sale today, and a friend really should call me more often from one. But Marbridge Daily is onto a story in the Southern Metropolitan News reporting that the iPhone will be on sale in China by the second quarter of 2008.

I'm not able to find the original article right now, but Marbridge's blurb says the source is Lin Ronghui, vice president of iTell. Lin apparently said the phone will be selling for about RMB 4,000, considerably less than the unlocked street prices I've seen, and will be sold in cooperation with local mobile companies.

Much has been made of the possibility that the iPhone will make it to China's market. Even though it's already here, users of illicitly unlocked phones risk bricking their phones if they download software updates from Apple.

Perhaps we should expect an official announcement sometime soon...