The iPhone gets two footholds in China
It’s not China Mobile — and it’s not the mainland — but it’s a start.
Hutchison Telecom, a small Hong Kong-based carrier controlled by Li Ka-shing (more on him below), announced on Thursday that it had struck a deal with Apple (AAPL) to bring the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau, two former colonies that are now special administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China.
Hutchison (HTX) played an important role in the early days of mobile telephony. In 1994 it launched the Orange brand in the U.K. and in 1997 invested heavily in VoiceStream (now T-Mobile) in the U.S. By 2000 it had sold its interests in both companies and was using the proceeds to develop a global 3G business. Last year it sold controlling interest in its popular “Hutch” product in India to Vodafone for $13.1 billion.
In addition to Hong Kong and Macau, it offers 2G and 3G services in Australia, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Li Ka-shing — nicknamed “Superman” by the Hong Kong business press — is the picture of a 21st century tycoon. According to Wikipedia, he is the eleventh richest man in the world and the richest person of Chinese descent, with an estimated wealth of $26.5 billion.
Citing Wikipedia…really?
ex ped: Only to avoid citing Forbes.
Li Ka-shing — nicknamed “Superman” by the Hong Kong business press — is the picture of a 21st century tycoon. According to Wikipedia, he is the eleventh richest man in the world and the richest person of Chinese descent, with an estimated wealth of $26.5 billion.
With a name that sounds like Ka-ching, how can you be poor? :)
By looking at RSS feed traffic on our blog, it looks like iPhone is already in China :-)
Absolutely good news, iPhone has actually and officially launched in China through the SAR.
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
Hmm… I guess this ruins my scheme to bring suitcases full of iPhones and sell them for ridiculously high prices.