CRI听力: iPhone Comes to China

Negotiations between Apple and China Unicom about how the iPhone should enter the Chinese market have reportedly entered its final stage. However, concerns about the product's price and service are intense among Chinese consumers and experts. Let's follow our reporter Huang Rui to find out more:

Reporter:
Although China Unicom announced there are still disagreements on how to share the benefit with Apple if iPhone joins its network, reports say the Chinese version of the smart phones have already entered the test phase and are expected to hit the shelves next month.(www.hXen.com)

One iPhone fan expresses his expectation of the price.

"I hope it won't be too expensive. Two thousand yuan is a reasonable price for me."

However an unnamed source says the price for each iPhone will be around 3,000 yuan, plus the service fee, which means the total cost of using an iPhone for one year could surpass 5,000 yuan.

On top of this, the Chinese iPhones will not offer the same service as those in the west. Outside China, Wi Fi is one of the most commonly used functions, but this could be canceled in China according to industry regulations.

One consumer says:

"I am not going to buy an iPhone. Nowadays technology develops too fast. No one can guarantee the iPhone won't be out of date in the next couple of years. "

Some claim the negotiations are simply a capital market strategy. The stock of the China Unicom raised nearly 10 percent last Thursday.

Telecom industry professional Xiang Ligang:

"I think China Unicom can make profit in the business if they do not put too much subsidies in, and is able to shake off the limit of the App Store and provide their own services."

Meanwhile, China Mobile is working hard on introducing its Ophone into the market next month. The Ophone is extremely similar to the iphone in terms of both design and function. Xiang Ligang says there are too many copies of iPhone but they all only work within specific networks. He hopes the government can make one standard to remove the barriers, so that every cell phone in this country can communicate with each other smoothly.

For China Drive I am…