Apple, China Mobile call off iPhone launch talks

Lei would not elaborate except to say that China Mobile had not ruled out reviving discussions at some stage, if necessary.

It is unclear what Apple, which has declined to comment on the issue, planned to do in China next. Apple was not immediately available for comment.

China Unicom, the smaller of the country's two wireless carriers, said in 2007 it had no plans to bring the device into the country, but was open to the idea.

Apart from China, Apple had also initiated talks with NTT DoCoMo Inc and Softbank Corp to bring its multimedia device to Japan, though sources at both firms said revenue-sharing was again a hotly contested issue.

Globally, Apple has chosen France Telecom's Orange, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and Spanish Telefonica-ownedO2 in Britain to bring the iPhone -- which combines Apple's iPod music player, a video player and a Web browser -- to Europe.

(Writing by Edwin Chan; editing by Anne Marie Roantree & Jan Dahinten)