iPhone 6 will not be available in mainland China within 2020

"The iPhone 6's 'blue label' has turned yellow again. This time, we may have to wait until 2015." A person close to Apple revealed to 21st Century Business Herald today: "Originally, Apple had almost reached an agreement with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the network access license for its new product, and it could be completed within this month. But for some reason, it fell through again, and the date for reapplication has not been determined."

The official mobile phone network access license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is blue, and mobile phone manufacturers in the industry call it the "blue label."

On the eve of the iPhone 6 and Plus launch, China's three major operators launched iPhone 6 official website reservations on September 2 and 3. It is reported that the three major operators had signed a cooperation agreement with Apple at that time and "confirmed" that they would enjoy the first launch treatment.

However, at the iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus product launch conference on September 9, Apple announced that the iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus would be available on September 19, with the first countries and regions including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia. The first launch in mainland China failed. This newspaper previously reported that the reason for the failure of the first launch was "failure to obtain network access permission from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."

Later, Apple announced on its official website on the evening of September 9 (U.S. time): iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus will be launched in mainland China on September 26. But then, the message was deleted, and the launch date of the new iPhone in mainland China has been lost forever.

"The real reason why iPhone 6 was not launched in China is confusing, and even the most basic issues have not been clarified." On September 11, a carrier manager said in his WeChat Moments: "Whatever the reason, Apple did not inform its partners of the change in time beforehand, which is still a bit unfair."

Operators are quite passive. Since the birth of the iPhone, the only products that were released globally for the first time in mainland China are the iPhone 5S and 5C. China Telecom and China Unicom released them simultaneously on September 20, 2013. Other countries that released them at the same time include the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. From the iPhone 3G S to the iPhone 5, the release time in mainland China was more than 90 days later than the launch time.

Previously, Apple's "delay" in mainland China was mainly due to business reasons. The negotiation period between Apple and China Unicom and China Telecom was too long, which delayed the launch time. But this time, Apple was unable to give a timely notice of the "broken appointment". According to reporters, this change also caught Apple off guard.

"At the end of August, Apple formulated a stocking plan of tens of millions of units for mainland China and has already put it into production. Currently, 100,000 to 300,000 units of the mainland version of iPhone 6 have been produced." The aforementioned source said: "But now, Apple has to suspend its stocking plan for the mainland market."

For Apple, the iPhone 6's journey to mainland China is still full of uncertainties. This time, Apple may have to wait until it is sure that it can obtain network access permission before launching its mainland market plan. It is not known whether its stocking plan, listing price, and contracts with the three major operators will be affected.

However, it should be pointed out that the global market's expectations for the new iPhone are unprecedentedly high. On September 12, iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus were pre-sold in Hong Kong, the United States and other places. Media reports said that "Hong Kong people rushed to buy iPhone 6", causing the Hong Kong Apple website to crash. American media also reported that the number of pre-orders in the United States in 24 hours was 4 million, causing the official website to crash. This number of pre-orders is twice the number of iPhone 5S pre-orders last year.

In mainland China, the scalper market is extremely hot, and the highest price for iPhone 6 is currently 28,000 yuan. Previously, when iPhone 4 was first released on June 24, 2010, a scalper asked for 20,000 yuan in Zhongguancun, but there was no demand. iPhone 6 has once again broken the record.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.