OStatic

Slowly but surely, Apple has been trying to crack the Chinese market with the iPhone. There have been many obstructions, and China Mobile has already expressed its desire to push Android-based phones, such as Dell's, throughout the country. As MacNewsWorld reported late last week, though, the iPhone's slow boat to China has finally arrived. China Unicom, the second largest wireless provider in China, announced on Friday that it will start carrying iPhones in this year's third quarter. Is there likely to be a smackdown between Android-based phones and the iPhone in China, and how free and open will China's government allow cutting-edge smartphones to be?

Could the open source Android operating system possibly find its biggest momentum yet in China? Last week, Telecomasia.net reported on China Mobile's intent to introduce its Ophone smartphone concept this month. The Ophone hardware is made by China-based Lenovo, and runs a version of Android. China Unicom is also preparing to release Apple's iPhone in China in September, but many people believe that Chines users will favor phones based on open source operating systems. Now, as Engadget reports, Dell is ramping up to enter the Chinese smartphone market with its Mini 3i smartphone, running the Android-based Open Mobile System (OMS).