While Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) finally entered the mobile phone market in China today with what could be considered a very disappointing product offering, competitor Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be blazing into China as well with its China Unicom partnership for the iPhone.China Unicom still denies any real partnership, but it will most likely purchase a large amount -- maybe even the rumored five million iPhones -- from Apple (most likely the standard 3G model), and China Unicom will sell them for $351 to $702 to its customers. This is more than the 8GB and 16GB iPhones cost in the U.S. with a contract, of course. China Unicom is going after China Mobile, currently the world's largest wireless company with a customer base that exceeds the entire population of the U.S.
Apple has a lot going for it if it can find a partner in China for the iPhone. The handsets that changed everything and continue to sell like hotcakes could become an even larger contributor to Apple's bottom line by cracking open the world's largest wireless market.
Apple's reputation with the iPhone is highly regarded in China, and the fight to enter such a populous market will easily be worth it for Apple. The iPhone is over two years old now and has been upgraded several times in that period. It continues to sell by the millions and, so far, has not grown stale with consumers even with a flock of touch-screen phones from the competition.
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