Rumors have been swirling online for a while that China Telecom would be getting a taste of the iPhone 4S action. Now those rumors have been confirmed by China Telecom insiders, but they note that when the company will be able to start selling the phone is unclear.
Telecom sources told Sina Tech that the photos circulating online — like the one here — are indeed actual photos of local China Telecom offices, but that the posters were clearly designed just to “get attention” and don’t indicate Telecom was about to start selling the phone yet, though they will sell it eventually. That sounds about right to us, as the banner above does look a little suspicious. The slogan in Chinese is “Again, everything has changed,” which is an older Apple slogan we haven’t see attached to the 4S in its Western marketing campaings. (Then again, maybe we just missed it, or maybe the China marketing team wants to do some recycling).
There are indications that the 4S is nearing the end of its regulatory journey and will be on the market soon, but how soon is anyone’s guess. Plus, even when the device does hit Chinese stores, there’s a decent chance the Unicom-bundled phones will be available first. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Historically, China Unicom has been the official China partner for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) product launches, and will almost certainly also be selling the 4S. Telecom’s permission to sell the device will make this the first Apple product in China that two telecoms are officially competing to sell — but of course, there are and will continue to be tons of gray-market and jailbroken iPhones on China Mobile’s network, too.
[Via Sina Tech]
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