Special Chinese Wifi-less iPhones rolling off the assembly line in China

Seth Weintraub
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July 15, 2009
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Every time we think AT&T are the biggest douchebags on the planet, we get a reminder that someone, somewhere is worse off.  Trading Markets is reporting that iPhones designed to stay in the country are now rolling off the assembly line in Shenzen, China.  They've been neutered of their ability to use Wifi.

Two production lines in the Foxconn Shenzhen plant are producing 90-coded mobile phones, device that looks like iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, said one source. The mysterious products might be the very model designed for Chinese users, according to another source, noting that the massively-produced device has no Wi-Fi functions, just like the A1324 model, the Chinese version of 3G iPhone being sent to the China Telecommunication Technology Labs (CTTL) for a test.

This sort of correlates to an earlier Commercial Times report saying that special iPhones for China were being manufactured.

iPhones sold in Egypt and a few other Middle Eastern nations have their GPS disabled by software only.  Locals are able to circumvent the GPS unlock by jailbreaking.  By physically removing the Wifi, China is insuring that iPhones won't be able to use Wifi via a hack, nor will their users be able to fully enjoy all the powers of the iPhone.

 

Comments (24)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 6:30am

WOW THAT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 6:31am

Anyone knows why the CHinese government does not like Wifi?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 6:54am

Because they are an oppressive dictatorship that does not respect basic human rights and freedoms, yet American business, like Apple, does business and gives away American jobs to these monsters?

Their government is a cancer.

babushnik (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 7:40am

verizon does not allow wifi either.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 8:19am

check your facts before posting an irrelevant remark. Verizon has phones that have WiFi.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 7:41am

While this maybe true, doesn't change the fact the iPhone would cost $2,000 a pop if built in the US due to the fact the corrupt Unions would pay some high school dropout $75 bucks an hour to sit on an assembly line. China maybe bad but the US is not all that great either. The same US gov. that is bailing out our economy with taxpayers money yet the average tax payer won't see a cent of it. Ya nothing corrupt going on there, long as the big wigs get their bonuses.

Nothing corrupt going on here, nothing to see please pay your taxes and move along. Obama will be sending your checks soon O.o... he promised.... really...

Vaganza (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 10:01am

There are channels other than Fox News.

So how large was your taxpayer contribution?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 11:52am

While this maybe true, doesn't change the fact the iPhone would cost $2,000 a pop if built in the US due to the fact the corrupt Unions would pay some high school dropout $75 bucks an hour to sit on an assembly line.

Well said! As a well-educated individual with a great family heritage and living in one of the wealthiest areas of the world, I can tell you that excellent-but-inexpensive products are far more important than the health, safety, or economic well being of high school drop outs.

The world should be my barista. If you want more than that, get back to work washing my car.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 17, 2009 - 8:31pm

I have not seem, China bombing other countries with atomic bombs, invading other countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, almost every country in central america, etc..etc...etc, supporting dictators like Pinochet in Chile, and many others over the world including Husein when he was on their side, and right now the coup in Honduras, or supporting other countries to kill any alive human being in Gaza!!! like Israel did!

Guess which governments looks more MONSTER!!!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 7:50am

yet American business, like Apple, does business and gives away American jobs to these monsters?

It's worse than that. Numerous American CEOs and tech company board members explicitly prohibit their businesses from increasing or improving their US-based manufacturing capabilities.

I am familiar with some board room discussions at a US-based tech company [not Apple]; there are well-known members of the board that seem to be feverishly against any US-based manufacturing.

Even when American-based manufacturing makes complete business sense today, their argument suggests that it is their opinion that in the long run, it will be best to have a well-developed east Asian based manufacturing practice.

It's not American businesses that are doing this; it is powerful and well-known individuals that are making it happen within the secrecy of the board room.

yu888 (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 10:08am

While China's government may be a one-party monstrocity at times, it has managed the fasted economic growth ever fro a nation of this size. For those too ignorant of the motivations, their restriction of Wifi on phones is purely economics as it takes money out of the pockets of the telco's which are gov owned.

Try not to get blinded by pure bias (we all have them) to find out the facts before posting.

noobie (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 9:18am

I was curious the other day and googled a bit to find out why. It has nothing to do with communism, dictatorship or anything. Their ministry of communication thinks that it might badly cut their profit on landline bills because people most likely will install VOIP apps (like skype or fringe)

9to5Mac JB (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 6:53am

she looks happy!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 8:52am

I think that's because she's FINALLY getting to keep an iPhone for herself, after making them for other people over the past two years...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 7:00am

Wifi = freedom.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 17, 2009 - 8:55pm

I dont see what freedom are you talking about, you can just use AT&T as service provider, is that Freedom?????????????

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 7:49am

Someone sould ask Jobs what he thinks about this.
I don't think this is the way Apple should do business...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 8:53am

The root issue is that businesses are essentially amoral. That is not a good or bad thing, it just is. Businesses don't like competition, for one, which is why they are embracing cap & trade (it will wipe out smaller competitors), and businesses like cheap costs.

Generally this benefits us via lower product costs, which means a higher standard of living for the USA. Does it cost us jobs? I doubt it, since the price of a US-made iPhone would be so high it would have never been built in the first place.

What's more, there's an opportunity cost associated with employing people to make things. There's not enough of us Americans to make everything we buy, so I say export the cheap stuff overseas and lets keep the better paying jobs here.

Now, having said all that, I do have some problems with all the business we give China, plus all the debt we're creating and printing money and they're buying up all the bonds.

And with cap & trade and the health care bill and all the added taxes, fees and crap that will be required to pay for it all, one wonders if businesses like Apple will survive.

Its interesting to note, back to the business = amoral line, that big corps are signing up in droves to support Obamacare. Why? Because it shifts the burden of health care costs to the individual (in the form of penalties if you don't buy insurance and taxing employer-provided insurance as income) and away from the business. They see it as a bottom line improving thing, at our expense.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 6:19pm

The root issue is that businesses are essentially amoral.

People that follow a religion that is not similar enough to my own religion are amoral too. So what's the difference? Only the amoral people will burn brightly ... in HELL! But we'll have amazingly cool products in heaven, even if produced by an amoral company. Yay!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 12:26pm

Ok. Can we have a serious technical answer?

Sure, the Chinese government likes control.

But how does Wifi limit control? The availability of Wifi does not stop AT&T from making good money. Computers in China can access Wifi networks there.

So what's the real problem?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 2:09pm

If the China iPhone comes with a Data Plan it will still be able access the internet and download Apps. What's the big deal? These people may not even have WiFi at home anyway.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 15, 2009 - 5:38pm

the funny thing is China is already flooded with unlocked iPhones. Why would any one buy an iPhone without wifi from their mobile supplier when they could go downtown and buy an unlocked iphone with wifi? Good luck with that market, Apple.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 16, 2009 - 10:50am

"Good luck with that market, Apple."

I think they are already enjoying good luck, as they make good money from the unlocked phones.

I still don't get the No Wifi stipulation. There is not much to lose. If VOIP is a concern, the Chinese population would have found other ways of implementing it.

This could very well be another unfounded rumor.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | July 16, 2009 - 12:21pm

Is that a PC or hackintosh I see in the picture? O.O