[Edward Kirk]

Apparently the iPhone negotiation situation with China Mobile was not as ideal as we initially expected. According Chinese newspaper Southern Daily, the talks that began earlier this month have come to a stand-still between the companies. Instead, Apple has moved on to other companies in the area.

Apparently the thing that stopped this deal was Apple's demand for revenue sharing, the same one that created so much turbulence among the other carriers. It seems that it is something totally unheard of in China, and China Mobile refused the idea. On the contrary, however, China Mobile told Bloomberg that the Southern Daily story was false, and that talks are still going between the companies.

With China Mobile out of the picture, Apple isn't left with many options. The only other viable option is probably China Unicorn. If Apple can manage to close a deal soon, then it could go on sale as soon as Summer of 2008. Although, Apple may have to lower the price for sale in China, considering the price of a US iPhone would add up to nearly twice a month's salary for many Chinese people.

[via MacNN]

I seriously doubt the iPhone price will drop in China. The upper class represents a small part of the population, but that population is at a count of 1 billion. There are many wealthy Chinese and the iPhone is targetted at those willing to spend.

BTW, I was just in Shanghai and saw an unlocked iPhone being sold at a kiosk in the subway station.