Not so fast, Chinese App Store!
August 31st, 2009 | 
Author: Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPhone
Several news sources have been reporting that, at long last, the iPhone will finally make its way to China after Apple was able to strike a deal with China Unicom. However, according to CNW (English translation), the integration of the iPhone may not be so easy; in fact, the App Store, from which customers can buy supplementary applications for their iPhones, presents a rather large problem.
In China, telecommunications businesses must apply for a "value-added telecommunications business license," which certifies that the company is allowed to function in the country, and subjects it to any conditions or standards set by the government, which currently include a minimum registered capital of 10 million yuan and and established reputation to "provide users with credibility and capacity." So far, Apple has not taken any steps toward obtaining this operating license and thereby receiving the approval of the Chinese government, but not a big deal, right?
Unfortunately, the issue is not simple as a bit of paperwork. One stipulation of the license is that the government must be able to monitor the activity of the company. Apple's servers for the App Store are not in China, and so they do not fall under Chinese jurisdiction. If the servers cannot be monitored by the Chinese government to a degree of their own satisfaction, the terms of a telecommunications license will not be fulfilled.
This is not to say that the iPhone can't go to China at all -- if Apple removes the App Store option, their application is otherwise fine. There's an old wives' tale that a sort of Cro-Magnon iPhone once roamed the earth pre-App Store, and they weren't so bad. However, the availability of such a wide variety of apps is one of the main advantages of an iPhone as compared to other smart phones, and that would be a hard leg-up to lose for Apple. Combining this with the lack of Wi-Fi capability, Apple's grapple with China is likely far from over.
Thanks for the tip, David!
TUAWNot so fast, Chinese App Store! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Posted in iPhone News
Not so fast, Chinese App Store!
>
Filed under: Apple Corporate , iPhone Not so fast, Chinese App Store
Casey Johnston ( RSS Feed ) At 31 August 2009, at 3:00 PM 
Several news sources have reported that at last the iPhone is finally on its way to China after Apple was able to strike an agreement with China Unicom. However PRNewswire ( Tweet this Comments ( 5 ) / * Some crap that is * / function IECheck (inc_seven) ( / / alert (navigator.appName); ?? if (navigator.appName == “Win32″ & & navigator.appName == “Microsoft Internet Explorer” & & window.attachEvent) ( ???????? navigator.appVersion.match var rslt = (/ MSIE (\ d + \. \ d +) /,''); ???????? iever var =) inc_seven (? rslt (! = null & & Number (rslt [1])> = 5.5): (rslt = null & & Number (rslt [1])> = 5.5 & & Number (rslt [1]) '; normalBrand var =' 
'; var brand =''; if (useFilter == false) (= mark normalBrand; ) Else ( brand = ie6Brand; )
Related articles from The Unofficial Apple Weblog FCC Responses: Apple on the GM applications mess take
Detect language—AfrikaansAlbanianArabicBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChineseCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGermanGreekHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianVietnameseWelshYiddish > AfrikaansAlbanianArabicBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGermanGreekHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKoreanLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianVietnameseWelshYiddish swap window.jstiming.load.tick('br');h = new _History();ctr = new _TranslateForm(new _LanguageSelector('old_sl','sl_select','3'),new _LanguageSelector('old_tl','tl_select','3'),'old_submit','submit_button', h,'source','result_box','dict','autotrans','/translate','/translate_t',undefined,'http://209.85.225.132/translate_f', 'select_text','select_document', 'file_div', 'file',true,'search','clir');window.jstiming.load.tick('prt')
Contribute a better translationThank you for contributing your translation suggestion to Google Translate. 
Several news sources have been reporting that, at long last, the iPhone will finally make its way to China after Apple was able to strike a deal with China Unicom. However, according to CNW (English translation), the integration of the iPhone may not be so easy; in fact, the App Store, from which customers can buy supplementary applications for their iPhones, presents a rather large problem. In China, telecommunications businesses must apply for a “value-added telecommunications business license,” which certifies that the company is allowed to function in the country, and subjects it to any conditions or standards set by the government, which currently include a minimum registered capital of 10 million yuan and and established reputation to “provide users with credibility and capacity.” So far, Apple has not taken any steps toward obtaining this operating license and thereby receiving the approval of the Chinese government, but not a big deal, right? Unfortunately, the issue is not simple as a bit of paperwork. One stipulation of the license is that the government must be able to monitor the activity of the company. Apple's servers for the App Store are not in China, and so they do not fall under Chinese jurisdiction. If the servers cannot be monitored by the Chinese government to a degree of their own satisfaction, the terms of a telecommunications license will not be fulfilled. This is not to say that the iPhone can't go to China at all — if Apple removes the App Store option, their application is otherwise fine. There's an old wives' tale that a sort of Cro-Magnon iPhone once roamed the earth pre-App Store, and they weren't so bad. However, the availability of such a wide variety of apps is one of the main advantages of an iPhone as compared to other smart phones, and that would be a hard leg-up to lose for Apple. Combining this with the lack of Wi-Fi capability, Apple's grapple with China is likely far from over. Thanks for the tip, David!
SourcePrint thisWith HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house.Live wirelessly. Print wirelesslyEmail this addthis_pub = 'weblogsinc'; addthis_options = 'digg, facebook, delicious, myspace, aolfav, propeller, google, live, stumbleupon, reddit, favorites, technorati, aim, more'; Share Tweet this!Comments (5) /* some ie crap */ function iecheck(inc_seven) { // alert(navigator.platform); if (navigator.platform == “Win32″ && navigator.appName == “Microsoft Internet Explorer” && window.attachEvent) { var rslt = navigator.appVersion.match(/MSIE (\d+\.\d+)/, ''); var iever = (inc_seven)?(rslt != null && Number(rslt[1]) >= 5.5):(rslt != null && Number(rslt[1]) >= 5.5 && Number(rslt[1]) < 7 ); } else { iever=false; } return iever; } var useFilter=iecheck(false); var ie6Brand='
'; var normalBrand='
'; var brand=''; if(useFilter==false) { brand=normalBrand; } else { brand=ie6Brand; }
Related Articles From The Unofficial Apple WeblogFCC Responses: Apple's take on the GV apps mess
Apple bigwigs on the way to China for iPhone deal
Apple wins fight in U.K. over iPhone v Android claims
Related Articles From Our Tech NetworkiPhone coming to China Unicom in Q4 — it's official (updated)
Spotify for iPhone gets thumbs up from Apple, subscription music with offli…
AT&T, Apple and Google respond to the FCC over Google Voice and the iPh…
See More Related Articles and Blog Posts
document.getElementById('spherePoweredBy').innerHTML=brand; Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1Paul Mensah said 3:28PM on 8-31-2009
They should worry about their rising population and falling economy instead of a fucking app store
Reply
↓↑report
2Michael Khalili said 3:31PM on 8-31-2009
Wouldn't Apple locate servers that host the Chinese app store IN china anyway? It makes sense to just combat latency issues. I don't think Apple moving servers to China is an issue at all. The bigger question is if they're going to allow the Chinese government participate in the app approval process. And will Apple be able to have all its existing apps approved for China or do they have to start at zero?
Reply
↓↑report
3owenmhv said 3:43PM on 8-31-2009
most favored nation trading partner my arse
Reply
↓↑report
4tkoapps said 3:57PM on 8-31-2009
This is exciting! We are about to have access to the biggest UNTOUCHED Market in the world . WOW cant wait
Reply
↓↑report
5Izzy said 3:55PM on 8-31-2009
We?
↓↑report var req; function getURL(url) { if(isWorking == true) { setTimeout(”getURL(\”"+url+”\”)”, “100″); return false; } isWorking = true; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.onreadystatechange = handleHttpResponse; req.open(”GET”, url, true); req.send(null); } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE try { req = new ActiveXObject(”Msxml2.XMLHTTP”); } catch (e) { req = new ActiveXObject(”Microsoft.XMLHTTP”); } if (req) { req.onreadystatechange = handleHttpResponse; req.open(”GET”, url, true); req.send(); } else { alert(”Your browser does not support ajax”); } } else { alert(”Your browser does not support ajax”); } return false; } function postURL(url,outbuf) { if(isWorking == true) { setTimeout(”postURL(\”"+url+”\”,\”"+outbuf+”\”)”, “100″); return false; } isWorking = true; var browser = navigator.appName; if(browser != “Microsoft Internet Explorer”) { req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.onreadystatechange = handleHttpResponse; req.open(”POST”, url, true); req.setRequestHeader(”Content-Type”,”application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8″); req.send(outbuf); } else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE req = new ActiveXObject(”Microsoft.XMLHTTP”); if (req) { req.onreadystatechange = handleHttpResponse; req.open(”POST”, url, true); req.setRequestHeader(”Content-Type”,”application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8″); req.send(outbuf); } } return false; } function handleHttpResponse() { if (req.readyState == 4) { if(req.responseText.charAt(0) == “
Posted in iPhone News
