China Unicom in negotiations with Apple over iPhone

Following a report from earlier this week indicating that Apple and China Mobile had broken off talks over the iPhone due to a disagreement over control of the App Store, a new report states that rival carrier China Unicom is now in talks to bring the handset to mainland China. “Yes, we are in talks with Apple Inc.,” a Unicom manager told China Business News. China Unicom plans to rollout a new WCDMA network on May 17, but it is unclear whether a deal between the two companies could be completed in time. “China Unicom has held several rounds of negotiations with Apple Inc.,” said an anonymous source within the company, “but there are still many obstacles ahead.” According to the report, the companies have yet to come to an agreement on what apps may come pre-installed on the device, and are also facing difficulties due to regulatory issues and disagreement on policy restrictions and business model differences. [via MDN]