The iPhone 4S Is Finally Cleared For Launch In Mainland China

Here in the States we’ve been chatting it up with Siri on the iPhone 4S for months, but the folks over in mainland China — the biggest mobile market in the world, mind you — have yet to hear that 42 is the meaning of life. The 4S launched in Hong Kong just last month, and since then we’ve heard that it would show up on the mainland in December.
People’s Daily is now reporting that a phone with the model number A1431 has passed the final hurdle in its Chinese certification. That’s the same model number that Apple used to get a network entry permit for the 4S from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on December 6, so all signs point to iPhone.
Considering the timeline, that means the iPhone 4S will likely launch in China before the Chinese New Year on January 23, which is the equivalent of our Black Friday.
Seeing that the iPhone is basically a smash hit in China — over 10 million iPhones are in use on China Mobile’s network (even though it isn’t an official iPhone carrier) — Apple will likely be breaking even more records with the iPhone 4S come 2012. Especially if the alleged talks between China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier, and Apple lead to something a bit more official.