Dual-SIM 6.1-inch Apple iPhone will be exclusive to China says new report

Last week, we told you that code discovered in the iOS 12 beta 5 release indicated that a dual SIM Apple iPhone will be unveiled this year. While the smart money is betting on the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone model (dubbed "iPhone 9") as being the recipient of this feature, we mentioned in our article that there are some who believe that the 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus model will sport the dual SIM capabilities because of the iPhone 9's rumored delay due to issues with the LCD panel and the notch.

The latest news comes from a report out of Taiwan, which states that the three new iPhone models expected to be introduced next month have been given code numbers of 801, 802, 803 and 804. That is four numbers for three phones. Hmm. The 801 and 802 units are believed to be the 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch OLED handsets, respectively. And that would leave the 6.1-inch LCD device, the iPhone 9, carrying the 803 and 804 codes. One of those code numbers could be for the version of the phone that includes a dual card-dual standby SIM slot. And that particular model, according to the report, will be exclusive to China.

Unlike U.S. smartphone users, their Chinese counterparts love having two lines connected to their smartphones. Counterpoint Research says that last month, the iPhone had a 9% share of the number one market in the world for connected handsets. By adding dual card-dual standby SIM to at least one model, Apple could entice some Chinese Android users whose need for dual SIM capabilities outweighed their desire to own an iPhone.

source: UDN (translated) via AppleInsider