Greg Joswiak
China Unicom and Apple will launch the iPhone in China at The Place in Beijing. The centrally located shopping/entertainment venue is in the midst of final preparations for the launch event scheduled for tomorrow – Friday October 30th 2009.
Qiu Qiuliang
China Unicom executives will attend the ceremonies along with several unnamed Apple executives. iPhonAsia is speculating that Qiu Qiuliang – GM Apple China will be on hand. It also possible that a small Apple contingency from Cupertino will make the trek to China for the ceremonies. Greg Joswiak was in Beijing this August to wrap up the China Unicom iPhone deal, and “Jos” may bump up his frequent flyer miles and make a return visit. And while in Beijing there may be other “China deals” (China Mobile) to be discussed.
There will be freebies for those who line up to buy the first “official” iPhones in China, including a commemorative shirt and gifts. iPhones will be on sale at the Apple Store in Sanlitun as well as some 999 points of sale (Carrefour, Gome, Suning, Dixintong, etc.) across China.
Plenty of media will be on hand to cover the launch and a reporter from mobile 163.com posted a > video today from The Place in Beijing showing site preparations. The photos below are courtesy of Netease mobile channel Zhuangao. More iPhone launch prep photos
Apple staff onsite
Interesting that Apple is promoting its JD Powers awards. Call me crazy, but I’m guessing JD Powers just doesn’t mean all that much to a Chinese audience.