自从上月iPhone 4S登陆香港市场以来，有关其何时进入中国内地这一全球最大的手机市场的报道就一直不绝于耳。

    11月份的消息是iPhone 4S将于12月份在中国内地上市。12月6日，媒体报道称苹果公司（Apple）已拿到中国工信部（the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology）的入网许可证，离获得最终批准仅剩一步之遥。(点击这里)

    现在，据中国官方报纸《人民日报》（the People's Daily）报道，12月21日，一款型号与iPhone 4S (A1431)相同的手机已通过中国内地的3C强制认证（China Compulsory Certification），扫清了上市销售的最后一道障碍。

    这给了苹果公司足够的时间赶在春节前完成零售渠道的铺货工作。春节是中国内地一年之中最大的购物季，今年春节是1月23日。

    据《中国日报》报道，沈阳、深圳的部分商家已开始接受iPhone 4S的预定。

    大中华地区（根据苹果公司的定义，包括香港，中国内地和台湾）是苹果公司增长最快的市场。2010年以来，苹果在这个地区的销售额增长了270%，其中很大程度上要归功于中国日益壮大的中产阶层对iPhone手机源源不断的需求。

    Reports that the iPhone 4S was headed for mainland China -- the world's largest mobile phone market -- have been dribbling in ever since the device arrived in Hong Kong last month.

    The news in November was that it would arrive on the mainland in December. On Dec. 6 Apple (AAPL) was reported to have been granted a network access permit by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the second-to-last step toward final approval. (see here)

    Now the People's Daily, the official news organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, reports that a device with the same model number as the iPhone 4S (A1431) passed the final hurdle, obtaining its China Compulsory Certification on Dec. 21.

    That gives Apple plenty of time to get the iPhone in the hands of retailers before the Chinese New Year, the biggest shopping event on China's calendar. It falls this year on Jan. 23.

    According to the People's Daily report, some distributors of Shenyang and Shenzhen have started to receive bookings.

    Greater China -- which Apple defines as Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan -- is the company's fastest-growing market, with sales up 270% since 2010, thanks in large part to the seemingly unquenchable appetite for iPhones among China's growing middle class.