Well it looks like Apple will be making some considerable extra sales with the iPhone by the end of the year as apparently China Unicom will by then lose their exclusivity of the Chinese iPhone because the word is China Telecom will make the iPhone available to their 106 million customers.

According to an article over on Reuters, according to an unnamed source the smallest of China’s three operators, China Telecom will become the second operator in the country to offer the iPhone, with the source saying, “It’s expected to happen this year. China Telecom already has the required technology and it all hinges on the content of the agreement. As we all know, it’s not easy to negotiate with Apple.”

However apparently another source that also wished to remain anonymous commented “China Telecom is expected to introduce the iPhone in November.”

Currently China Unicom is the only operator in China that offers the iPhone, signing a 3-year agreement back in 2009 with Apple and isn’t based on Apple’s usual revenue sharing scheme.

The chairman of China Telecom, Wang Xaiochu, back in May told a news conference they had contacted Apple with a view to launching a CDMA iPhone in China.

UK research company Ovum analyst Jane Wang has stated, “The reason telecom operators are fighting for the iPhone business is because everybody is trying to grab as many 3G users as possible. The only way to keep costs down is to build up such a user base.”

There are 896 million mobile phone users in China and the three operators are China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, and recent rumours have speculated that China’s largest operator, China Mobile is expected to get the iPhone 5 in September. This rumour comes due to a visit to China Mobile by Apple exec Tim Cook, but hasn’t been confirmed.

The director at CASH Asset Management, Patrick Yiu said, “Unicom is selling iPhones, but there was no particular boost to their earnings from that. Even if China Telecom gets the iPhone deal, it will still depend on whether their system can support it and on the details of the contract.”

Well if China Telecom does get the iPhone, and the rumours about China Mobile gaining the iPhone 5 are true, then it looks like Apple has finally completely cracked the Chinese market and will scoop some hefty sales revenue in the not too distant future.