Apple to sell iPhone via 3rd party retailers to maximise sales

iPhone 3G in China

Apple’s differences with China Mobile over the launch of iPhone in China are already known to us. This has led to the deal between Apple and China Unicom to materialize. However, it seems that Apple doesn’t want to leave out the 500 million+ China Mobile subscribers from the iPhone radar.

Thus to get the iPhone working on the worlds largest mobile cos network, Apple might tie up with retailer Di Xing Tong in China and offer unlocked iPhones.

This rumor comes with a theory (by the same Wedge Partners research analyst Matt Mathison who makes this prediction) that Apple might not sell unlocked iPhones directly, but make it easy for consumers to unlock it without any resistance. The only hicup being the fact that China Mobile’s 3G network isn’t compatible with the iPhone 3G, so it will work on China Mobiles 2G network…. Analysts and their predictions :P.