China Unicom denies iPhone price drop rumors

In the wake of the latest comments from China Unicom CEO Chang Xiaobing (stating that China Unicom and Apple are engaged in discussions over the possibility of delivering an “official” WiFi-enabled iPhone to China) there were rumors that China Unicom would drop the price of the current iPhone models, which have no WiFi capability (no WiFi chip – disabled at the hardware level). These price drop rumors (down 20-30% depending on model) can apparently be traced to a Bank America/Merrill Lynch source … or so says the Beijing Morning News (< translated from Mandarin).

China Unicom says “not so!” … there are no plans to lower the official China Unicom (Apple) iPhone price. In theory, a substantial price drop might signal “inventory clearing” for a new model iPhone. But evidently a price drop is not imminent, and if it happens, it could be months down the road.

Sidebar: Earlier this week, China Unicom announced they will launch a new Android 2.0-powered smartphone — Motorola XT701 — that will support WCDMA 3G, and the Wi-Fi/WAPI stack.

Apple has made a habit of launching new model iPhones in the summer and it would not be a stretch to imagine a “fourth generation” iPhone making an appearance circa July/Aug/Sept 2010.  This might also be the most logical time to unveil a new model(s) iPhone for China. If a new “special production run” for China is in the cards, it might (or might not) include both WAPI and WiFi. Read more background re > WAPI/WiFi on iPhone

There have been several unsubstantiated rumors in the tech blogosphere about Apple launching a low-price iPhone model for China and other large “pre-paid” (no cellular contract) markets such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia, et. al.. There has also been plenty of Net “buzz” (wild rumors) about a so-called “World iPhone” that might support CDMA 3G and GSM/UMTS 3G (China Unicom’s WCDMA 3G is a GSM standard). Many tech pundits dismiss the possibility of a CDMA capable iPhone, as it’s “yesterday’s” 3G technology. However, a CDMA model could work on Verizon’s network in the US and also on China Telecom’s CDMA 2000 3G network in China. It would be interesting to see a low-price “World iPhone” that supports the CDMA/GSM/UMTS + WAPI/WiFi tandem. Alas, there are many technical, practical and political hurdles to overcome in launching such a World iPhone and I won’t be holding my breath. But sometin’ new is coming … that you can bank on.