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The iPhone 4 will be on sale in China this coming Saturday, September 25th. Unlike the Chinese 3GS, the new iPhone will have Wi-Fi.

China had to wait two years after the iPhone’s initial launch before it was officially available there, although that didn’t stop a healthy black market form springing up. And after such a wait, the Chinese could only buy a hobbled version with the Wi-Fi removed due to government demands. Whether this was stop citizens having anonymous, mobile internet access or just to remove competition for China’ own wireless protocol, Wireless Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI), we’re not sure. It was probably both.

The Chinese iPhone carrier Unicom (which, when set in Monaco, I always read as Unicorn) was still working to sell a Wi-Fi-enabled 3GS in March this year. Now, that has really been rendered moot by the new handset, which appears to be exactly the same as the one you or I can buy.

To buy the new iPhone, you can buy contract-free from Apple, or on-contract with subsidies from Unicom in exchange for a two-year commitment. From Apple you’ll pay CNY 5,000 ($744) for the 16GB model and CNY 6,000 ($894) for 32GB. On-contract prices depend on the usual nonsense, and can be found over at the Unicom site.

iPhone 4 Available in China on September 25 [Apple]

Chinese iPhone 4 [Unicom]

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Source:wired.com

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Considering iPhones are made in China, and they’re already being counterfeited there, you would think that an authentic Apple iPhone would have been available in the country long ago. But it appears carrier China Unicom and Apple are just finally sealing the deal to begin selling iPhones in September.

The carrier has paid Apple 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) for 5 million iPhones, according to International Business Times. An 8GB model of the iPhone is estimated to sell for 2,400 yuan ($350), and a 16GB may be sold at 4,800 yuan ($700), said Yu Zaonan, general manager of the customer development department of China Unicom, in an interview with IBT. The report says China’s iPhones would work with the WCDMA-standard for 3G connectivity.

The report does not clarify whether Unicom would be selling the new iPhone 3GS, or if these are the previous 3G models. However, it’s likely the 8GB model is an iPhone 3G, since there is no 8GB iPhone 3GS.

Shortly after IBT published its report, China Unicom attempted to refute it by claiming IBT’s sources never commented on the iPhone. However, IBT said it had voice records of the interviews. Our interpretation: The company accidentally broke the news, which was supposed to be Apple’s job. Whoops!

Photo: Stuck in Customs/Flickr

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