China Telecom officially announced it would begin selling the iPhone 4S next month. China Telecom is a major market for Apple, because its 130 million mobile subscribers will now have the opportunity to purchase Apple’s latest smartphone. The iPhone 4S will go on sale on March 9 on China Telecom, and pre-order offerings will start on March 2. China Telecom has almost 200 million customers in Mainland China, including fixed line, mobile and broadband. It also boasts about having the largest CDMA network in the world (ahem Verizon) by installed base.
Apple provided a well-timed statement on the matter to The Loop:
We previously noted that China Telecom would begin to sell the phone around the announced timeframe. The iPhone 4S on China Telecom will be available in every configuration: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The phone will start at “free” with a contract. China Telecom received its license to sell the iPhone in January.
- China Telecom says it will sell the iPhone 4S in a month (9to5mac.com)
- iPhone gets necessary approval from China Radio Management agency for use on China Telecom (9to5mac.com)
