Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple event announcing the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple event announcing the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are going to hit the US stores on Sept 19, but iPhone fans in China will have to wait longer for the new iPhone models.

According to Business Insider, China Mobile, the largest cellular network in China, has no clue as to when they will be able to start selling the new iPhone 6. On Sept 15, Apple published a press release on its website and revealed the 22 new countries that are scheduled to launch the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units on Sept 26. The list does not include China.

According to PhoneArena, China was supposed to be one of the countries on the list but it was removed overnight by Apple. It adds that leading cellular service providers from China such as the China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom had already begun with the preorders earlier this month.

The preorders in China started before the official iPhone 6 launch date on Sept 9. The Chinese carriers even claimed that the iPhone 6 models will be available mid-September. PhoneArena claims that by the time Apple announced the new iPhone 6 models, the pre-orders had crossed 'hundreds of thousands.'

GSMArena, meanwhile, says through an unconfirmed report that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is yet to certify the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets for distribution in China. It further adds that the certifying body has failed to reach an agreement with Apple in clearing the certification.

GSMArena states that the certification of the new iPhone 6 models may be pushed further to 2015. China Mobile has already shifted their focus from selling the new iPhone 6 models to offering unsubsidized 4G handsets for the rest of the year.

According to Business Insider, China Mobile has a huge customer base of 794 million subscribers. The demand for smartphones with larger display is also high in China. Both the new iPhone 6 models feature larger displays, hence, they are expected to do well in the Chinese markets, if and when the models are released.