The iPhone 5 was awarded a network access license in China, setting Apple's handset up for an anticipated mid-December launch.
The approval of the iPhone 5 was discovered on a regulatory website Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. The models approved by Chinese regulators are WCDMA and CDMA-2000, compatible with China Unicom, the nation's second-largest carrier, and China Telecom, its third-largest.
With the necessary hurdles out of the way, the iPhone 5 is now expected to launch in China in mid-December, according to Engadget. But without a TD-SCDMA model approved, it won't mark the debut of the iPhone on China Mobile, the largest carrier in the world.
The iPhone 5 has been slowly making its way through the Chinese approval process for months. Apple has not given a specific release date, but has said the iPhone 5 will be available in 100 countries on 240 carriers by December.
The iPhone 5 is on sale in Hong Kong, where sales have been brisk. Carriers in China have been anticipating the iPhone 5 launch in mainland China, which has become an increasingly important region for Apple's business.
Market watchers in particular are excited about the potential of a deal between China Mobile and Apple. China Mobile has nearly 700 million subscribers, with 75.6 million of those currently on its high-speed 3G network. Some have speculated that a deal could be reached by early 2013.
13 Comments
Yes! That'll boost the stock, and if they indeed reach an agreement with CM the future is bright. [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/16944/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
Going for worlds largest country, even with 20% gain in china, major boost in stock, hopefully will be on china mobile, Chinas biggest carrier.
I so do not care about China and the iPhone 5. I really don't... I hope Apple gets in but enough already...
…enough already…
You don't want them to succeed wildly, as they have everywhere else?
China doesn't have the iPhone 5 yet? This would have never happened if Steve Jobs were alive¡