BusinessWeek’s Bruce Einhorn (Hong Kong Bureau) has penned a new article on the state of Apple iPhone negotiations in China. Apple Loses a Big One in China
Bruce is a bit more pessimistic, than I, in his view that negotiations with China Mobile have (conclusively) ended. His piece outlines Apple’s secondary partnership options (China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom). Towards the end of his article, Einhorn notes that the TD-SCDMA launch in China may not happen this summer. I concur. Based on feedback that I have received from telecommunications sources in Beijing, it appears that the new TD-SCDMA network is further behind than many have suggested and will not “go live” this summer. It is possible, however, that we will see a partial rollout this August in one or more of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games’ cities. This will be a showcase of the new China 3G technology, with full TD-SCDMA deployment deferred until 2009.
As I have noted in other posts, the new “in development” 3G Apple iPhone will likely support multiple 3G protocols plus WiMax (4G). And launching iPhone in China will NOT be dependent on readiness on TD-SCDMA. Hence iPhone can be launched in China later this year.
