{"id":513872,"date":"2025-10-20T07:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/513872\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T07:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:58:12","slug":"how-iphone-airs-esim-debut-reshapes-chinas-telecoms-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/513872\/","title":{"rendered":"How iPhone Air\u2019s eSIM debut reshapes China\u2019s telecoms landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The launch of the iPhone Air as the first eSIM-supported smartphone sold in China marks a pivotal moment in the country\u2019s telecoms history, as state-owned mobile carriers vie for dominance in a changing landscape.<\/p>\n<p>Beijing approved \u201ccommercial trials\u201d of the handset\u2019s eSIM function by the country\u2019s \u201cBig Three\u201d telecoms operators \u2013 China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom \u2013 last week, and the iPhone Air <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3329336\/apples-iphone-air-sells-out-minutes-china-after-ceo-tim-cooks-visit?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\">sold out within minutes<\/a> of its release on Friday.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Domestic brands quickly followed suit. Oppo launched its Find X9 Pro with eSIM support on Thursday, and Huawei Technologies was expected to release a model \u201cin the near future\u201d, according to social media posts by China Telecom.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">eSIMs, or embedded SIMs, are digital SIM cards that are built into devices. eSIMs can store multiple profiles, allowing users to switch between different mobile carriers or plans without the hassle of changing physical SIM cards.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The iPhone Air is Apple\u2019s thinnest smartphone to date. Photo: AFP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/eff2de59-7436-42a2-a8f4-e10a9e2fdae9_8652fbe8.jpg\" title=\"The iPhone Air is Apple\u2019s thinnest smartphone to date. Photo: AFP\"\/>The iPhone Air is Apple\u2019s thinnest smartphone to date. Photo: AFP<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The three major Chinese mobile service operators had adopted different approaches towards eSIM, according to Guo Tianxiang, research manager at consultancy IDC China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The launch of the iPhone Air as the first eSIM-supported smartphone sold in China marks a pivotal moment&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3159],"tags":[1662,14271,44627,67643,67645,67644,1918,167951,67638,167955,47584,132392,167956,1666,23820,143013,547,167950,167954,6111,9710,167949,167952,3809,53,11586,8032,16,15,167953],"class_list":{"0":"post-513872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-apple-intelligence","10":"tag-china-academy-of-information-and-communications-technology","11":"tag-china-mobile","12":"tag-china-telecom","13":"tag-china-unicom","14":"tag-esim","15":"tag-great-fire-wall","16":"tag-great-firewall","17":"tag-guo-tianxiang","18":"tag-huawei","19":"tag-huawei-technologies","20":"tag-idc-china","21":"tag-iphone","22":"tag-iphone-17","23":"tag-iphone-air","24":"tag-mobile","25":"tag-mobile-carrier","26":"tag-mobile-carriers","27":"tag-mobile-phone","28":"tag-oppo","29":"tag-sim-card","30":"tag-sim-cards","31":"tag-smartphone","32":"tag-technology","33":"tag-telecoms","34":"tag-tim-cook","35":"tag-uk","36":"tag-united-kingdom","37":"tag-zeng-lingping"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115405435938555304","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}