Nearly six months after large-scale trials kicked off, China Unicom -- the only carrier among China's nationals to be deploying HSPA -- has broken the magical million-subscriber mark that have made the leap to its "Wo" 3G network. If you're wondering whether the recent launch of the iPhone on Wo has contributed to that count, the answer is a definitive "no" -- amazingly, a mere 5,000 units have apparently been sold so far, likely due to the phone's prohibitive cost and the availability of unlocked devices and interesting alternatives. Be that as it may, the carrier seems convinced that the iPhone will contribute to Unicom's bottom line in the fourth quarter, countered by continued marketing and build-out costs for Wo. Networks aren't cheap -- particularly when you're dealing with a country the size (and population density) of China.

While the iPhone got an official announce for China last month, its retail pricing and delivery date have remained a mystery. That's going to change later today when China Unicom is expected to announce an October 1st launch for Cupertino's darling. Eight service packages ranging in price from 126 yuan (about $18) to 886 yuan (about $130) per month will be available to Unicom's 141 million subscribers from a pool of 700 million cellphone toting Chinese. How much will it cost? 5,000 yuan or a steep $733 green retail. Subsidies of about 893 yuan (about $131) to 4,253 yuan (about $623) will be offered for those signing to long-term plans on Unicom's fledgling 3G network. Looks like somebody's standard of living is on the rise.

And now it's official: China Unicom has struck a 3-year exclusive deal to finally bring the iPhone to China's massive subscriber-base potential. The carrier will offer two different "3G iPhones" to its 141 million subscribers and it will buy the phones wholesale from Apple -- no revenue sharing deal here kids. Neither Apple nor China Unicom will reveal specs on the phones (WiFi?) or pricing. So that's it, short and sweet after what feels like years of rumors. But really, unless you live in China and subscribe to China Unicom what else is there to know?

Update: There was apparently an error in the WSJ piece -- the deal is not exclusive to China Unicom.

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We'd still venture to say that all signs are pointing toward an iPhone launch on China Unicom before too long, but one key element of the launch -- Unicom's upfront buy -- is now in question. A spokesman for China's third-largest carrier (which is an amazingly low rank considering they've got about as many subscribers as Verizon and AT&T combined) has denied earlier reports that they've stockpiled five million handsets in preparation for launch, saying that negotiations with Apple are still ongoing. We imagine that when you're dealing with a nine-figure subscriber count, any hardware negotiation is complex, tense, and filled with counteroffers, so there's no telling how much longer this process could take.

[Via Unwired View]

China's official introduction to the iPhone finally seems all but locked for later this year, but to put the size of the market in perspective, check this stat: according to "local media," China's UMTS / HSPA network operator China Unicom is said to have placed an order with the boys and girls in Cupertino for 5 million units at launch in exchange for 10 billion yuan, which is just shy of $1.46 billion. For comparison, AT&T sold about half that number in its last reported quarter, so if the 5 million figure is accurate, Unicom's definitely coming to the field to play ball. Rumors have the first batch of domestic iPhones dropping in September; the carrier's apparently pretty stoked, and understandably so -- there's even talk that they could get within striking distance of China Mobile, the world's largest carrier by subscriber count. Strangely, a Unicom spokesperson is saying that the agreement with Apple to actually sell these isn't finalized, so if they're going to wrap up the paperwork, get the cash from point A to point B, pump out a few million localized handsets, and get 'em on shelves in time for Fall, time is definitely of the essence.

[Via PMP Today and Unwired View]

HTC has been on a global Android-pimping mission with its Hero device, and it looks like Chinese subsidiary Dopod gets the honor of announcing three new handsets for the Middle Kingdom. Unlike others, the Hero retains its WiFi capabilities by playing nice with China's custom WLAN security protocol and is expected in late August on China Unicom for 5,600 Yuan ($820) along with the few-frills Click for 3,400 Yuan ($500). The carrier has opted to strip Google Maps from the Hero (though it's still downloadable), and to soften the blow it will likely offer a snazzy red version of the phone. China Mobile will have to settle for an as-yet unspecified TD-SCDMA handset and the already announced Magic, both of which will likely be sporting the OMS flavor of Android. We're not sure we'd classify the Hero's price tag as reasonable -- but really, can you put a dollar figure on being the first big-name Android release in the world's largest wireless market?

Though it stands as the world's most populous wireless market (by a stunningly wide margin), China lags in 3G coverage --partly thanks to its fragmentation-happy attitude that has left the country with three very different, very incompatible standards that are all being rolled out in parallel. Of course, when you're Samsung, that ain't no thing. Sammy -- the world's number two manufacturer, and a company that very nearly rolls out a phone a day every single day of the year -- is spearheading a new "3GSamsung, 3G for all" marketing campaign in China to advertise the breadth and depth high-speed wares. To be fair, the company is probably more qualified to aggressively advertise 3G support in China than any other company, seeing how it's in the process of rolling out around 30 compatible phones there spanning the full range from EV-DO to HSPA to China's own TD-SCDMA -- now they've just got to work on bumping up those adoption rates and they'll be in business.

[Image via 163]

Still having doubts that an iPhone will ever come to China via legitimate means? Have a gander at this. According to the listing after the break, which was discovered on China's State Radio Regulatory Commission (SRRC; basically the Chinese version of the FCC) website, we're looking at a GSM / WCDMA cellphone complete with Bluetooth, an internal model number A1324, a little-known manufacturer called "Apple Inc." and an approval date of May 7th, 2009. We're also told that the certificate expires in five years, which should give China Unicom plenty of time to capitalize on its reported three-year deal to offer the phone in mainland China. So, all we need now is what's we've needed for years: a handwritten note from El Jobs himself saying that this whole thing is more than some sick charade.

[Image courtesy of Sina, thanks Joe]

Update: Looks like this may be the first live look at a China Unicom iPhone 3G, complete with no WiFi to speak of.

Is it really happening? Is the world's most thickly settled nation finally getting the iPhone in earnest? If a bold (albeit woolly) report from China's own national news agency is to be believed, China Unicom has just locked down a deal that'll grant it exclusive rights to sell Apple's heralded smartphone in mainland China for three whole years. Unfortunately, most of the nitty-gritty details are absent, but we are led to believe that this will be the first-ever iPhone sold with any branding at all outside of logos splashed on at Cupertino. The "Wo" icon you see just below the speaker signifies that this here device is ready to rock on the carrier's 3G network, though we still can't say with any amount of certainty if said image is fully legitimate. We're also waiting to hear whether it'll be the iPhone 3G or 3GS (or both) that's sold, and we're particular curious as to whether or not these handsets will include WiFi modules.

In related news, it does sound as if China Unicom bent over backwards a bit to make this all come together, with the article stating that it signed on to move between one and two million units per year regardless of how many consumers actually show up to buy one. If you'll recall, an eerily similar agreement has Russian operators in a world of financial hurt, but we get the feeling the reception in China will be quite a bit warmer. At any rate, it's noted that Unicom will be snapping up the devices from Apple at a cost of around 3,000 Chinese yuan apiece ($439), with end users being asked to pay an undisclosed lesser amount on contract. If all goes well, the units could hit Chinese shops as early as September, though only time will tell how everything shakes out. Oh, and considering that Apple can hardly keep up with iPhone 3GS demand as it is, we suspect it'll want to wait a few months anyway before stressing its supply channels further.

Update: A China Unicom spokeswoman has now been quoted as saying that "we have made progress but there are still some problems to be resolved." Really? Another round of this?

China's ZTE is still sticking to the low end in North America, but in its home country, the manufacturer is a huge player. Evidence of that lies strewn about ZTE's booth at Wireless Japan this week, where it's showing a pair of WinMo devices plus a Linux-based model that look ripe to compete with some of the best in the world. First up, the RAISE and XIANG do WinMo and HSPA for China Unicom's Wo network, rocking 5 and 3.2 megapixel cameras, respectively. The D820 reps the open-source world (though we're not sure what kind of Linux distro is running on it -- it's not Android, if we had to guess) and runs CDMA with WiFi, GPS, and a 2 megapixel camera. We're not sure if ZTE is using phones like these as warmups for more global launches, but given what we're seeing here -- and the low price points they're likely looking to hit -- we're all for it.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

Word from the land of Yao is that Foxconn has begun mass production of a 3G-enabled iPhone 3GS-looking device that lacks WiFi functionality, though it's being suggested that these may actually lack a WiFi module altogether as opposed to the software lock we'd heard about earlier. The phone (read: iPhone) in question is said to be the same as the one Apple recently sent to the China Telecommunication Technology Labs for testing, which points to the handset making its long-awaited Chinese debut in the near future. Of course, rumors of this happening have been surging and receding for years now, and even these "undisclosed sources" provide no insight as to which carrier will scoop the prized contract. The great will they or won't they discussions continue, though if these things are actually being produced, it means one of two things: the world's most populated nation is about to get its iPhone fix, or the world at large is about to receive another stash of iPhone KIRFs.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

By and large, China's networks are dominated by GPRS-only devices that make up in crazy user interfaces (and often even crazier designs) what they lack in data speed. Carriers over there are finally in full swing rolling out a variety of 3G networks, though -- EV-DO, HSPA, TD-SCDMA, you name it -- which should make mobile browsing a whole lot more satisfying of an experience when you're headed to that posh Shanghai office with a view. Anyhow, it seems that Alcatel is prepping a WinMo 6.1-powered side slider with 7.2Mbps HSDPA just for China Unicom's nascent Wo network, which is an encouraging sign that Wo's users are going to have decent hardware in their hands to match the blazing speeds. It's got a WQVGA display, AGPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and pretty much every other modern smartphone amenity, which marks the first time in a long time (ever?) that we've expressed a tinge of envy for a domestic Chinese handset. Wo, Alcatel -- our hats go off to you on this one.

[Via Unwired View]

Following China Telecom and China Mobile, China Unicom has now become the last of the big three Chinese operators to begin trials of its 3G network -- christened "Wo" -- with some 55 test markets lighting up this week. Happily, the trials are purely UMTS / HSPA, which means you won't need a pesky, proprietary TD-SCDMA handset to take advantage; unfortunately, though, regular commercial service won't begin until the end of the year. In the meantime, Unicom is expecting an expansion in the September time frame that would see the high-speed service expand to some 284 cities.

We all had that "whoa" moment the first time we browsed, streamed, or torrented off a 3G network -- well, okay, many of us didn't have a "whoa" moment, but stay with us here: China Unicom has officially branded its nascent 3G offering as "Wo," which we think is a pretty cool and appropriate name all things considered. For comparison's sake, this lines up with China Telecom's "e-surfing" brand and China Mobile's "G3" -- so yeah, you might be able to argue that Unicom didn't have any serious competition in the marketing department. Wo's trials kick off on May 17 in 55 markets while construction simultaneously begins on the second round of launches, so it looks like China's finally getting really real with this 3G jazz. Cheers to that, we say.