China Unicom

Shares of Qualcomm Inc. gyrated wildly in the wake of news that a major Chinese customer will not adopt the company's mobile phone technology. China Unicom, the country's second-largest telecommunications company, reportedly told industry analysts during a briefing it will not adopt the CDMA wireless telephone standard and instead will stick with a competing one.

WASHINGTON - Concerned about possible cyber spying, U.S. national security officials are debating whether to take the unprecedented step of recommending that a Chinese government-owned mobile phone giant be denied a license to offer international service to American customers. China Mobile, the world's largest mobile provider, applied in October for a license from the Federal Communications Commission to provide service between China and the United States and to build facilities on American soil.

China's second-largest telecommunications company on Wednesday raised $4.92 billion in an initial public offering of stock that was reasonably well-received by U.S. investors. China Unicom (ticker symbol: CHU) closed at $22.38 on the New York Stock Exchange, up from its initial offering price of $20 a share. The IPO was one of the biggest in Asian history. The company's shares also will begin trading in Hong Kong today. China Unicom, a unit of state-run China United Telecommunications Ltd.

The World Bank, taking aim at one of China's most entrenched interest groups, told the country's top leadership that it had to reform the nation's powerful state sector to ensure stability in the world's fastest-growing major economy. China's economic model is "unsustainable," and the Asian giant is in danger of falling into a so-called "middle-income trap" if it fails to launch meaningful remedies, said World Bank President Robert Zoellick. "This is not the time just for muddling through," Zoellick said Monday at a conference attended by high-level officials in Beijing.

China Unicom said Monday it would build networks using current-generation CDMA technology, reversing its earlier position and reviving the fortunes of U.S. firm Qualcomm Inc. in the world's second-largest wireless market. The San Diego-based wireless-technology firm has been trying for years to persuade China to build networks using its narrow-band code division multiple access, or CDMA, standard.

Qualcomm Inc.'s agreement to sell its mobile phone technology to China United Telecommunications Corp. sent Qualcomm shares up 7% on Tuesday on hopes that its cellular technology will become a major player in the quickly expanding Chinese market. The agreement announced late Monday will allow China Unicom, as the company is known, to buy Qualcomm's communications chips and begin deploying the San Diego-based company's code division multiple access (CDMA) technology in China's wireless network.

China pressed ahead with a restructuring of its telecommunications market Monday as mobile phone company China Unicom Ltd. announced plans to take over a fixed-line provider and sell off a cellphone business. The country's No. 2 mobile operator said it would acquire China Netcom Group Corp. in a share swap valuing the fixed-line operator at $23.8 billion. That represents a 3% premium over Netcom's last closing share price.

Qualcomm Inc.'s mobile phone partner in China has reportedly delayed introduction of the company's technology in that country, which spooked investors Thursday and triggered as much as a 14% drop in Qualcomm's stock, which later recovered much of the loss. Shares of the San Diego communications company closed down $7.19 to $139.69 on Nasdaq. About 25.7 million shares changed hands in active trading.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone has been a ringing success wherever it has been launched. But in China few are picking up the buzz. Challenged by high pricing, missing features and stiff competition, iPhones have logged only 5,000 sales since the handset debuted Oct. 30 in the world's biggest cellphone market. By comparison, more than a million units were sold in the first three days when the latest iPhone was launched in North America and Europe in June. One major hang-up might be the price.

For a couple of precious hours Monday, the Chinese government's Web censoring system, popularly known as the Great Firewall, was lifted. Suddenly, Internet users had access to websites that had been banned for months, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Cautious excitement spread on some social-networking platforms that authorities were expanding Internet freedoms. But by the time most Chinese woke up the restrictions were back. Error messages once again flashed across computer screens for sites blocked by the nation's censorship filter.

Apple Inc. halted sales of the iPhone 4S at its retail stores in mainland China after a massive crowd waiting outside its Beijing flagship turned unruly, pelting the windows with eggs, hitting a mall employee and refusing police orders to leave. It was the first day of sales in China for Apple's latest smartphone, and throngs of hopeful shoppers -- many of them migrant workers who had been hired by scalpers to purchase the phones for later sale on the gray market -- had waited overnight in freezing temperatures.

Siri, how do you say profit in Chinese? One answer Apple's digital assistant might give is: iPhone 4S. On Jan. 13, Apple will start selling the device in China. The company said Wednesday that China would be among 22 new countries that soon would get the newest iPhone model, one of Apple's hottest-selling yet. The iPhone now accounts for nearly half of Apple's annual revenue, and some analysts believe it earns the company more than 60% of its profit. China is one of the world's largest mobile device markets, with close to a billion cellphone users by some estimates.

Google Inc. on Monday confirmed that some of its mobile features in China had been partially blocked, raising the specter that its position in that country was deteriorating even further. The company was not specific about the nature of the block, saying the availability of its online services fluctuates regularly and that it was too early to confirm if the block would be permanent, or even if it was related to the feud with China. Google users in China might be experiencing a service disruption for features the company provides to users of Google-powered phones, according to a status Web page Google has been updating daily since last week.

Google Inc. said Tuesday that the launch of two new mobile phones in China has been delayed, a move that showed the company's clash with Beijing is crimping more than just its search business. Google-powered handsets from Motorola Corp. and Samsung were scheduled to be unveiled today from China Unicom, one of the Asian nation's largest telecommunications providers. Google said last week that it might shut down its search engine in China in the wake of a sophisticated cyber attack originating in China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from the company's servers, as well as the targeting of human rights activists' e-mail accounts.

For a couple of precious hours Monday, the Chinese government's Web censoring system, popularly known as the Great Firewall, was lifted. Suddenly, Internet users had access to websites that had been banned for months, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Cautious excitement spread on some social-networking platforms that authorities were expanding Internet freedoms. But by the time most Chinese woke up the restrictions were back. Error messages once again flashed across computer screens for sites blocked by the nation's censorship filter.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone has been a ringing success wherever it has been launched. But in China few are picking up the buzz. Challenged by high pricing, missing features and stiff competition, iPhones have logged only 5,000 sales since the handset debuted Oct. 30 in the world's biggest cellphone market. By comparison, more than a million units were sold in the first three days when the latest iPhone was launched in North America and Europe in June. One major hang-up might be the price.

Siri, how do you say profit in Chinese? One answer Apple's digital assistant might give is: iPhone 4S. On Jan. 13, Apple will start selling the device in China. The company said Wednesday that China would be among 22 new countries that soon would get the newest iPhone model, one of Apple's hottest-selling yet. The iPhone now accounts for nearly half of Apple's annual revenue, and some analysts believe it earns the company more than 60% of its profit. China is one of the world's largest mobile device markets, with close to a billion cellphone users by some estimates.

Amid a diplomatic flap involving an American bank, China's top finance official said Tuesday that Beijing opposes any ties between the government of archrival Taiwan and foreign investment firms also wishing to do business on the mainland. Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said the Chinese government does not object to "unofficial commercial activities" by international financial institutions on Taiwan, the island Beijing considers part of its territory.

When the iPhone was released in the United States two years ago, thousands camped outside Apple Inc. stores overnight to secure one of the prized devices. The official launch of the trendy handset in China this month isn't likely to spur the same zealotry. That's because the iPhone is already here. Over the last two years, while Apple was tied up in negotiations with a Chinese carrier to bring the iPhone to the Middle Kingdom, nimble entrepreneurs were busy importing Apple handsets manufactured for the U.S. and Hong Kong markets.

China pressed ahead with a restructuring of its telecommunications market Monday as mobile phone company China Unicom Ltd. announced plans to take over a fixed-line provider and sell off a cellphone business. The country's No. 2 mobile operator said it would acquire China Netcom Group Corp. in a share swap valuing the fixed-line operator at $23.8 billion. That represents a 3% premium over Netcom's last closing share price.