China Mobile requests slower iPhone

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 26th September 2008
Comments (16) Stumble
China Mobile requests slower iPhone

Is Jobs likely to agree to seeing his baby crippled in order to crack open the lucrative Chinese market for the iPhone?

Despite complaints about the perceived lack of speed encountered by iPhone 3G users – with some even going so far as to sue – there are, believe it or not, users who would like their iPhone even slower: China Mobile.

According to CNet, China Mobile is set to request the creation of a modified iPhone which has the WiFi and 3G radio systems disabled so as to prevent users leaving its network. The plan would also, one assume, quite successfully prevent anyone wanting one of the nobbled 'phones in the first place.

While competitor China Telecom is planning a 3G network via the W-CDMA standard already used by the iPhone 3G in the US, China Mobile is ploughing ahead with a homegrown solution free from licensing restrictions – and, perhaps more importantly, licensing fees. While the network is due real-soon-now, China Mobile is clearly worried that rival China Telecom will beat it to the 3G punch, and if the subsidised – and, most likely, exclusive – iPhone is capable, eager users will unlock and switch to the faster network.

To prevent this possibility, China Mobile is hoping to convince Apple to agree to remove the W-CDMA compatibility from any version of the iPhone it ships to China as part of a deal with the company. Personally, I'm not sure that Apple will agree to such a thing: although a deal with China Mobile will open the iPhone up to a massive market, and a modified version would feasibly cost less than current incarnations due to the lack of expensive radio transceivers, users of the 'official' China Mobile iPhone would get a pretty poor user experience stuck on 2G speeds – one that they are likely to blame on the device, rather than the network.

Can you see Apple agreeing to China Mobile's demands in order to get a crack at a lucrative market, or will the company hold out in the hopes of a counter-offer from China Telecom that would mean shipping unmodified handsets? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote Bluephoenix 26th September 2008, 14:41
hold out, get the counter-offer, and make $$ then lower the price of the iphone and touch across the board, make even more $$ wash, rinse, repeat.
Quote n3mo 26th September 2008, 15:12
Come on, Google agreed to censorship in order to get some chineese cash, Apple won't have problem with disabling some parts on already crappy iPhone. It's always and only about ca$h.
Quote xion 26th September 2008, 15:48
"looking deep into my crystal ball I foresee a new variant of the second coming phone ... I cant quite ... oh, wait I can read the name now... it's the iPhoneSOEBL+c."

"just a quick look in my marketing dictionary of hyperbollocks this translates to iPhone Streamline Optimised Extended Battery Life Edition with new and improved Censorship technology"
Quote wuyanxu 26th September 2008, 16:05
Quote:
Originally Posted by n3mo
Come on, Google agreed to censorship in order to get some chineese cash, Apple won't have problem with disabling some parts on already crappy iPhone. It's always and only about ca$h.

i just don't get what's the deal with people hate it to hell?? what's wrong with the phone? has the phone offended you?

Wi-Fi, 3G and multi-touch are what made iPhone attractive over other phones. and disabling 2 of it meaning no-one's going to buy it, they'd rather buy off Hong-kong.

also, their lame excuse of preventing people to go to other network doesn't stand. iPhone 3G currently is un-unlockable. pwnage team has had little progress with it. and if its only a custom firmware, people can easily download other jailbroken firmwares for use
Quote Dr. Strangelove 26th September 2008, 16:15
Wait this is in China.. I mean will they not just make a cheap copy of the iPhone? anyway anyone knows that the i stands for Imperialism. I foresee an all new pPhone (for the Peoples Phone, elsewhere in the world knows as the Phony phone) or maybe the cPhone (for Chinas Phone, in the states knows as the Commie phone)

:D
Quote xion 26th September 2008, 16:46
Quote:
Originally Posted by wuyanxu
i just don't get what's the deal with people hate it to hell?? what's wrong with the phone? has the phone offended you?

Wi-Fi, 3G and multi-touch are what made iPhone attractive over other phones. and disabling 2 of it meaning no-one's going to buy it, they'd rather buy off Hong-kong. ...snip/

i don't hate the phone, no more than i hate any innanimate object... but i';m afraid your argument there is a little thin... IMHO people would not stump for the iPhone over any other phone specifically for its 3g capability - this is pretty much standard now. Wi-Fi...? sure thats a nice to have, but i doubt would be the must have feature.. Multi-touch...? Well, yeah, let's be honnest here, this is a good concept, it works well, but i feel it's wasted on a phone. People will still buy the phone over any other because it's an iPhone. I don't need or use half the features on my Samsung Tocca, I chose that phone for it's gadgetrickery-shinyness not for it's 3g touch screen media player form facter et.al... (and the fact it was "free" on my contract)

In short, if apple removed anything they wanted, people would still buy. China Mobile would still make a shed load of money. People love to feel they are part of that exclusive club no matter how subconsciosly it is.
Quote wuyanxu 26th September 2008, 18:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by xion

In short, if apple removed anything they wanted, people would still buy. China Mobile would still make a shed load of money. People love to feel they are part of that exclusive club no matter how subconsciosly it is.
that's true.

my comment wasn't directed at you. but since you reply to my comment:
to tell you the truth, i hate Apple's aggressive marketing and the stupid fan boys. but i bought a cheap iPhone because of the features. multi-touch for the 30 odd great games on the iPhone is what i want. and i got exactly that. the Wi-Fi is also another thing i wanted in a phone, doesn't have to be iPhone. but all phones with Wi-Fi are £200+ without contracts, so i just bought this iPhone for £160.

a phone is defined by the feature set and without WiFi or 3G on iPhone 3G, it's no better than the average phone such as my old Sony k510i. in fact, i had more games than current iPhone on my old k510i.

everyone have different tastes and there's no need to hate any object. (though there's less of aggressiveness on this forum)
Quote rhuitron 26th September 2008, 18:53
^ Boom. There it is.

wuyanxu, if your not a woman, do you have a sister i could promise marriage to, right now?
Quote wuyanxu 26th September 2008, 20:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhuitron
^ Boom. There it is.

wuyanxu, if your not a woman, do you have a sister i could promise marriage to, right now?

im sorry, both are impossible. im an only child.

which part of my above comment made you trigger happy?
Quote ParaHelix.org 26th September 2008, 21:17
iPhone spyPhone
Quote ParaHelix.org 26th September 2008, 21:28
Quote:

Why did you post a link back to this exact topic?
Quote hitman012 26th September 2008, 22:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParaHelix.org
Why did you post a link back to this exact topic?
Link in initial post was wrong. Fixed now.
Quote Amon 27th September 2008, 03:37
Joe,

Does this mean China will no longer be the destination for buying high-end electronics, such as the iPhone, cheaply?
Quote n3mo 27th September 2008, 05:32
wuyanxu, I don't hate iPhone, i just say it's a crappy phone fot the iPod generation (a.k.a. "I-am-too-stupid-to-use-more-than-one-button" or "Me-like-shiny"). First generation was insanely overpriced and underdeveloped, 3G is cheaper, but plastic; and both rely solely on aggressive, brainwashing Apple marketing. There is a saying that goes "iPhone - made for iDiots".
Quote Mr. B 28th September 2008, 01:56
What ill informed nonsense; typical Western bias. China will never license a CDMA 3g network and China Telecom would never build a separate one. China's TD 3G is still needs time to build and perfect, so I bet its more likely Apple suggested to cut-down phones for now.

Thankfully, China Mobile has broken the iPhone/Bberry monopoly model that forces subscribers to buy the phone and then continue renting it with monthly payments to providers from which they cannot escape. We should be grateful to CM.

China Mobile, with 415 million subscribers, also refuses to pay royalties to CDMA 3G developers forever. That's smart, not nefarious.

This will also keep CM's subscriber costs down (again thankfully). My 2G iPhone runs on CM's network just fine and it costs me barely $20 a month (okay I paid double for the phone, but it's all mine).

This is because of China Mobile's serve-the-people mandate and why its average monthly rake per subscriber is just over $10, which means millions of countryside peasants can afford this all-but essential service.

Now that's business and service with Chinese corporate characteristics!

b
Quote Nature 28th September 2008, 05:45
I can honestly tell you right now that asians in general are terrified of the iphone in a business sense. Korea won't allow it in the country (because of samsung) :D!!!! I don't think this would happen in a western country: a product not being released to the public because it's great and better than what the locals offer.....

If I'm wrong please give me an example...


Isn't nepotism beautiful?
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