IPhone Comes To China Without Key Feature

JOE McDONALD

BEIJING (AP) — Apple's iPhone made its long-awaited formal debut in the world's most populous mobile phone market, without a key feature and at higher prices than widely available black market models.

Apple's local partner, China Unicom Ltd., hopes the sleek smartphone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by subscribers.

Unicom started selling iPhones equipped for third-generation service Friday night at 2,000 stores in areas as farflung as Tibet. Chinese news reports say Unicom hopes to sell 5 million in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.

"Ever since we first launched the iPhone, we greatly anticipated bringing it to China," an Apple vice president, Greg Joswiak, said at a launch ceremony at a Beijing shopping mall.

Unicom's first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone's appeal, allows the phones in other markets to use free wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications.