iPhone 4S Rollout Continues in China and 21 Other Countries on January 13

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that it will be launching the iPhone 4S in 22 new countries on Friday, January 13, with China being the featured addition for this round of debuts.

"Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever."

China Unicom has been the exclusive official iPhone carrier in China, and Apple's press release gives no indication whether the device will be expanded to new carriers there.

The full list of launch countries includes: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

Article Link: iPhone 4S Rollout Continues in China and 21 Other Countries on January 13

[ChinaRye]

North Korea gets screwed again!

[coder12]

This is great news! The 4S is the best investment I've ever made; everyone should have the option of getting one!

[cityathrt]

I notice that Siri isn't mentioned in this ad... odd. Although location based services won't work, phone specific ones should. I wonder why the omission?

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by cityathrt

I notice that Siri isn't mentioned in this ad... odd. Although location based services won't work, phone specific ones should. I wonder why the omission?

Perhaps some languages don't work quite as well as others yet and thus Siri is "more beta" in some countries than in others. So while it may exist on those phones they're not going to brag about it yet.

Just an off-hand guess.

[gkuhn]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

China Unicom has been the exclusive official iPhone carrier in China, and Apple's press release gives no indication whether the device will be expanded to new carriers there.

This is not a bit surprise. The three mobile network operators in China are forced to use specific network technology:
China Unicom: UMTS (european system)
China Mobile: TD-SCDMA (chinese system)
China Telecom: CDMA 2000 (american system)
I haven't heard yet that iPhone does support TD-SCDMA.

[bushido]

Originally Posted by cityathrt

I notice that Siri isn't mentioned in this ad... odd. Although location based services won't work, phone specific ones should. I wonder why the omission?

Siri only works in english, french and german so far plus localization stuff with siri is us only

[nick_elt]

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I wonder if ppl were waiting overnight in Guinea Conakry for the launch?

[hkenneth]

Originally Posted by cityathrt

I notice that Siri isn't mentioned in this ad... odd. Although location based services won't work, phone specific ones should. I wonder why the omission?

Although Apple may able to make Siri support "standard" Chinese, there are dozens of dialects in China. Each one of them has a very distinctive pronunciation or even grammar (as distinctive as English vs. Scottish). I wonder Siri in China would be as successful as it in the US.

[MultiMediaWill]

So now the Chinese can stop buying our phones in the US and shipping them to China?

[vartanarsen]

Sorry Asian Scalpers on lines....Your Time is UP))) I cant wait to see your face when you see normal people walking into a China Apple Store....and not funding your scalping operation

[Navdakilla]

Love my phone. Glad other countries get to enjoy it

[wackymacky]

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Originally Posted by MultiMediaWill

So now the Chinese can stop buying our phones in the US and shipping them to China?

Yes, just think of the carbon footprint; exporting them from China to the US, just to turn the ship around and send them back.

[wackymacky]

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Originally Posted by ChinaRye

North Korea gets screwed again!

You can run cellphones in North Korea, and the subscriptions are quite cheep (under 20 Euro a month). Though you only get about 60 min a month of calls for this and about 150 texts.

All your calls are monitored, you can't call international? and Internet is blocked.

[kvnkvnkvn]

Does the iPhone even support Tswana, Malagasy, Swahili or Chamorro

[HishamAkhtar]

Surprised the 4S came out so late in China considering the market...

[festerfeet]

Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Surprised the 4S came out so late in China considering the market...

No it isn't really as it only received regulatory approval last week.

Good news is (for me) that I just picked up a 4S in Szechuan for half the price the scalpers were asking last month and cheaper than I could buy it in the UK which was was my other option when I returned there for business in a months time.

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Originally Posted by HishamAkhtar

Surprised the 4S came out so late in China considering the market...

I think even if it was given regulatory approval sooner it would have have been difficult to provide the numbers to satisfy demand any earlier.

And Siri works very well in UK English here

[tanhm]

me too

Originally Posted by Navdakilla

Love my phone. Glad other countries get to enjoy it

[HishamAkhtar]

[QUOTE=festerfeet;14112142]No it isn't really as it only received regulatory approval last week.

Good news is (for me) that I just picked up a 4S in Szechuan for half the price the scalpers were asking last month and cheaper than I could buy it in the UK which was was my other option when I returned there for business in a months time.[COLOR="#808080"]

Fair enough. Have you checked out Hong Kong? They have the cheapest Apple products that i've seen anywhere! (after conversion)

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Originally Posted by festerfeet

No it isn't really as it only received regulatory approval last week.

Good news is (for me) that I just picked up a 4S in Szechuan for half the price the scalpers were asking last month and cheaper than I could buy it in the UK which was was my other option when I returned there for business in a months time.

Fair enough. Have you checked out Hong Kong? They have the cheapest Apple products that i've seen anywhere! (after conversion)

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I think even if it was given regulatory approval sooner it would have have been difficult to provide the numbers to satisfy demand any earlier.

And Siri works very well in UK English here

You speak English in China?!

[App-Netzwerk]

Demand for iPhone 4S in China will be massive.

Needham just upped estimates for Q4 2011 to 32 million for the quarter. China launch will help to maintain those high levels.

Also hoping for an imminent launch of iPhone on the other two major Chinese carriers: China Mobile and China Telecom!

[funkdis]

Originally Posted by vartanarsen

Sorry Asian Scalpers on lines....Your Time is UP))) I cant wait to see your face when you see normal people walking into a China Apple Store....and not funding your scalping operation

Not asian, and I brought in 6 units (one for my wife) from HK and Aus, sold them for a decent profit to pay for our airfare to thailand. When theres extra pocket money to be made I'm there and its so easy in this country with little effort
win win for me