China and the iPhone

“Are you going overseas?”

Doesn’t it seem a little ironic that China are allowed to make the Apple iPhone, but not yet legally buy it there?!

Chinese consumers have to resort to asking any travelling family, friends and work collegues to buy the iPhone and take it back home to China for them. With instructions all over the net for how to unlock an iPhone, this makes the black market a viable one.

Some estimates indicate 40 percent of all “unlocked” iPhones are in China, according to telecoms consultancy BDA.

However, the Apple iPhone craze is certainly not new in China. They have been bringing them in since the 1st generation iPhone. Even if at that stage, most of it’s functions didn’t even work.

So, it’s good news perhaps that Apple and China Mobile are reportedly finalising talks for the iPhone. Given that China Mobile is the world’s largest service provider, I imagine that will help Apple realise (and maybe even surpass) their goal of 10M handsets in 2008.

Apple big wig, Steve Jobs has said he expects to reach a deal with China this year, and that obstacles that Apple has to overcome has to do with “regulatory bodies.”