Apple Takes Another Bite out of China: iPhone 4S Coming to China Telecom

Rumors of the iPhone 4S coming to China Telecom (HKG:0728) have been swirling for months now, but today the company issued a release confirming it as a March arrival. Specifically, the iPhone 4S will be available beginning on March 9th, and online orders can be placed on March 2nd. According to The Loop citing the China Telecom, the all 4S models (16, 32, and 64GB) will be available starting at 0 RMB on selected contracts.

China Telecom is the third largest carrier in China sitting way behind the dominant China Mobile along with China Unicom. But if you consider just 3G subscriptions — which is a far closer horse race — then it becomes clear that hooking China Telecom is a pretty big deal for Apple.

China has a big appetite for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), particularly for the iPhone, as was evident at the launch of the iPhone 4S back in January, when Apple had to delay its launch due to an unruly crowd outside.

China Mobile dominates in overall subscriptions

...but the 3G landscape is a different story

[Via The Next Web]