The official app store of China Unicom, the second largest mobile phone service carrier of China, is supported by China Unicom of Shanghai. The name of China Unicom App Store is Wo Store, not UniStore as previously predicted.

The app store covers almost all popular mobile devices, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, BlackBerry, SamSung, HTC, Panasonic, BenQ, OKWAP and Motorola. According to Wang Changeng, Manager of China Unicom App Store, the store will support all major smart phone devices but iPhone is not included.

The development process is:

1. Apply to be a developer
2. Download developer resources
3. Develop the app
4. Submit the app
5. Wait till China Unicom Support Team test and verify the app
6. Manage and sell the app

China Unicom currently work with the developers based on a 3-7 commission model, namely, the developers can get 70% of the income of every sale. The official store will be officially kicked off on August, 19. Payments inside the store will be relied on a “middle account” that is associated with third party payment methods like Alipay or Tenpay. The balance of the cell phone deposit could also be used when people purchase apps in the store.

Among all the 3 operators in China Mainland, China Mobile launched the Mobile Market in August, 2009, as the first online app store, China Telecom followed China Mobile later and kicked off their official online app store Tian Yi Space. China Unicom is the last one that sets up their online store. “China Unicom App Store will strengthen the promotion channel, in the fields of device customization and sales,” said Wang, “we expect to reach 10 million downloads by the end of this year.”