This morning, as millions of new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners unbox their goods in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, France, Germany, and Puerto Rico, one nation remains glaringly absent from the list of first-wave countries to get Apple’s new flagship smartphone.
Despite Apple’s hopes of promptly bringing iPhone 6 to market in China as soon as the device launches, strong regulatory hurdles proved too much of a barrier to swift entry for Apple’s newest smartphone.
“Apple on Thursday received regulatory approval for the iPhone 6 to tap into the country’s domestic frequencies,” says Don Reisinger of CNET, citing the official government Xinhua news agency.
“Apple now needs approval from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in order to move forward with a launch plan,” Reisinger adds.
As of this writing, it is not known just how soon iPhone 6 will come to Chinese consumers, but some analysts believe it may not be until after the new year.
