Still looking for this - a little slow on trying to spin/pick apart a good quarter... you've written one every quarter but the last. Is it possible even you could not find negative spin?

Nick how silly you have become with your hatred for Apple and Steve it must be hard to see the photos from China with hundreds lined up to buy the Iphone.

So Apple should just give it away? If "success" depends on lowering your margins on a high-end product, is that really success? Wouldn't Apple be better off maintaining higher prices, higher margins and accept that they will sell lower volumes -- knowing that they've maintained higher-end positioning?

WHEN wil he learn to do research.

The problem is down to the Chinese insistence that any mobile phone with WiFi MUST use their WAPI encryption standard. What's the problem with that you ask? They won't tell anyone outside of China what that protocol consists of. Makes it kind of hard for an importer to be compliant doesn't it.

The other question is whether the physical WiFi hardware is missing, or more likely is it just removed from the software stack. I believe they use the same chip for BlueTooth, so probably the latter. If and when China wants to tell Apple how to implement WAPI then they can probably enable WiFi by a software update.

First Nick admits: "There is a booming market for unlocked, WiFi friendly Iphones in the local Chinese markets."

Then, suddenly realising this means success for Apple:

"All up it is looking like Apple's push into China is going to be about as successful as the Mongolian empire's attempts to take over Japan during the Middle Ages."

Wow, talk about confused. Seeing iPhones in China must be giving Nick nightmares. What if - *GASP* - the iPhone is a success despite Nick's predictions and best efforts? What if - *GASP* - people decide to buy one?