According to a report on Chinese website Sohu.com, Apple and
China Telecom have to an agreement to bring not 1 but 2 new iPhones to Chinese buyers this October.
According to the report, Apple has come to an agreement with
China Telecom (the third largest Chinese carrier) to bring the latest
iPhone 5 to the country as well as a
budget iPhone.
The
budget iPhone is thought to be similar to the current
iPhone 4 but with cost saving measures to keep the price lower and more affordable for those in developing countries, think of an iPhone 4 without the
Retina display, and a
plastic housing for example.
If this is true it is going to hurt the poor sales of overstocked iPhone 3GS’s that
China Unicom are struggling to sell at the 4000 Yuan price point.
There are also
rumors that the iPhone 5 heading to
China Telecom will be the
CDMA version of the phone, meaning it has a built in phone number rather than removable sim card.