Apple still selling three-year-old iPhone 4 in China

In most countries, today’s introduction of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c also signaled the end of iPhone 4 availability. But apparently that’s not the case in China, where Apple’s three-year-old smartphone remains for sale alongside the newly unveiled models. Originally introduced in 2010, Apple and its carrier partners have most recently been selling the iPhone 4 as a free on contract option for wireless customers. But at today’s event, the company moved its 8GB iPhone 4S to that position, simultaneously halting sales of the phone that introduced us to the Retina display.

Yet China customers can still obtain the handset for RMB $2,588 (roughly $420 USD). It’s unclear whether Apple plans to continue sales of the iPhone 4 in China for another year — perhaps as an aggressive push to expand its marketshare there — or if availability will soon cease as it has elsewhere. It’s worth noting that while Apple’s newer hardware will be upgraded to iOS 7 on September 18th, the iPhone 4 won’t receive the OS update until a later date. We’ve reached out to the company for details.