Top 5 News From ChinaKnowledge.comPCCW Chairman Li raises his stake againBYD resurrects plans for A-share IPOChina Pacific Insurance set to restart Hong Kong IPORenhe Commercial buys six malls for RMB 830 mlnChina's retail sales up 15% in H1 Jul. 17, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Foxconn Technology Group, Apple's manufacturing partner, has reportedly already started producing an iPhone specially designed for the Chinese market, spurring hopes that the device will be available sooner than expected, the China Daily reported on Thursday.
Netease.com, one China's largest portal websites, said that Foxconn has been producing a Chinese iPhone without Wi-Fi. However, the product, code-named 90, has 3G network capability, Bluetooth and other popular features.
Both Foxconn and Apple declined to comment on the report.
Dow Jones Newswires reported on Monday that China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd<600050><0762><CHU>, the country's second largest telecom operator, and Apple are expected to close an iPhone deal soon and launch iPhone handsets in China.
However, spokesman of China Unicom, Yi Difei, said on Wednesday that company is still in talks with Apple on introducing the iPhone.
Experts have said the Wi-Fi restrictions in China, handset costs, and the existence of the online iPhone App store are the major obstacles to the iPhone's launch in China, said the paper.