A customer in Zhengzhou displays his iPhone 4S. (Photo/Xinhua)
Chaos erupted when Apple stores launched sales of the iPhone 4Sin China in early January, with scuffles breaking out among eager customers and scalpers. More troubles cropped up during and after the long Chinese New Year holidays.
There have been severe shortages of the latest Apple smartphones at Apple stores or designated outlets in China. Some authorized stores have reportedly jacked up the price tag.
After offices and businesses reopened at the end of the holidays, telecom service giant China Unicom, Apple's first authorized telecom partner in China, announced a plan to sell a "bare" iPhone 4S through its own marketing channel. Rival state-run carrier China Telecom said it will soon start offering a CDMA version of iPhone 4S. But China Mobile, which has the largest number of mobile phone users in the world, is still left in the cold. After a long wait, the company's customers are still unable to get an iPhone compatible with the TD-LTE system used by China Mobile.
There have also been widespread complaints from many customers who have been able to get hold of an iPhone 4S when the users found that they could not activate the smartphone with China Mobile SIM cards.
Others complained about not being able to place calls with the SIM cards, although the telecom signal seemed normal, according to a report from the National Business Daily.
The situation also highlights the strong position held by Apple and the awkward situation faced by telecom companies, although China has become the world's largest mobile phone market and Apple's No. 2 market in the world.
Users and telecom experts interviewed by the daily have preliminarily drawn an initial conclusion that the frequency band of China Mobile could have been negligently eliminated or covered up by Apple.
One technician at a telecom company said there is a specific design in iPhone 4S that invalidates CDMA support when the handset is brought to the Chinese market.
Frequency bands have been used by telecom service companies to protect their own market shares while limiting inroads by competitors, said the technician.
Some have pointed out that the frequency of CDMA 870-880MHz invalidated by the design of the iPhone 4S is just 5MHz different from China Mobile's EGSM network frequency. China Mobile's frequency band could have been erroneously or accidentally eliminated when he CDMA frequency was covered.
When questioned by reporters from the newspaper, an Apple executive in China declined to answer such charges but stressed that the functions and signal reception of iPhone 4S are already much better than those of the earlier generation, the iPhone 4.
China Mobile is now also selling iPhone and SIM cards for the iPhone 4S mainly because of the popularity of the products, although customers' handsets are still unable to support the company's TD network. Fu Liang, a telecom specialist, noted that China Mobile's 3G business has long been fighting an uphill battle because of the incomplete TD-SCDMA industry chain in China. Many large enterprises have hinted they will lend bigger support to the sector, but few have taken concrete action.
In spite of the adversities, China Mobile should work even harder to develop its 3G and 4G business operations so that it may quickly seize time and opportunities to roll out new star products and services, he suggested.
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