There is little suspense about the final outcome of ongoing talks between China Unicom and Apple on the iPhone. The question is not if, but when the iPhone will be formally launched in China.

According to media reports yesterday, China Unicom has signed a three-year agreement with Apple for exclusive rights to sales of iPhones in China. It is expected that the 3G iPhone will be on sale from the end of September.

Reports say that China Unicom will buy iPhones at a price of 3000 yuan. China Unicom will guarantee one to two million iPhone sales each year and sales revenue will be not less than 5 billion yuan (about US$732 million).

But a senior manager at China Unicom told CBN yesterday that negotiations with Apple were still ongoing.

Another China Unicom insider told CBN that the 3G iPhone will arrive in China in the fourth quarter this year and that China Unicom is currently preparing its sales and promotion plans.

For more information, please consult the Chinese coverage here:

http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000004/20090729/000000121975.shtml

(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua July 29, 2009)