Apple’s iPhone finally arrived at market in China today and is evidently selling fairly well, despite wallet-emptying prices. ChinaNews.com found about 300 people queued up to buy the device at China Unicom’s flagship store in Beijing.
Apple will sell somewhere between five and seven million iPhones in China in 2010, according to research house Broadpoint AmTech. But that’s assuming its distribution deal with China Unicom is exclusive. And according to Apple, it’s not. “I can confirm it is not an exclusive deal,” an Apple spokesperson told Dow Jones.
No wonder cellular carriers rejected Dell’s first smartphone offering for its “lack of differentiation.” Unveiled in China this morning, Dell’s “proof of concept” handset looks like the chimerical offspring of Apple’s iPhone and the Palm Pre, but lacks some of their more powerful features.
Google began using billboard advertising for the first time earlier this month, though it may not have needed to. Because according to Millward Brown Optimor, the Google brand is the most well known and valuable brand in the world.
If China Unicom and Apple haven’t already inked a deal to bring the iPhone to China, they’re very close to doing so. This morning, a report in Shanghai Securities News claimed the two companies had reached an agreement that grants China Unicom three years of exclusivity.
It’s been nearly a year and China Mobile is still in talks with Apple about bringing the iPhone to China, though the revenue-sharing issue that had stalled them was resolved back in July. Now we know why the talks keep dragging on: hardware localization.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
Spectacular in the bellowing Russian sailor sense of the word …
“If you spell something wrong on your insurance claim, do you really deserve surgery? I don’t think so …”
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
Don't miss a post! Sign up for our Daily Email and get AllThingsD.com delivered each day.
Get columns, blogs and video from D and All Things Digital on your iPhone. Download now »
