Just days after China Unicom denied rumors of a deal, new reports in Chinese media state China Unicom has finally reached an agreement with Apple to introduce Apple's 3G iPhone into China and the two companies will formally announce the news on May 17, the World Telecommunication Day.
Under the agreement, China Unicom will reportedly give a certain amount of subsidies to the users of iPhone and will share the profits from iPhone's value-added services with Apple. In return, Apple will also make some compromises and its iPhone products in China can only be used with China Unicom's SIM cards. Apple is apparently currently testing the compatibility between its iPhone products and the WCDMA network of China Unicom as well as making preparation for the software localization.
In response to iPhone's entry into China, Chang Xiaobing, chairman of China Unicom, previously said that the two sides were negotiating, which confirmed China Unicom's intention to introduce iPhone into China. Just one week ago, China Mobile's chairman, Wang Jianzhou, said his company was still discussing terms with Apple, but no agreement had been achieved.
So far, the rumor about the signing of the iPhone contract has not been fully confirmed by China Unicom.