Unicom says it hopes to sell five million handsets in three years, but experts and customers question how realistic that goal is when tech-savvy consumers have been snapping up cheaper fake and smuggled models for months.

Shaun Rein, head of the China Market Research Group, said two million of China’s nearly 720 million mobile phone users are already using authentic iPhones purchased here or abroad, and demand may already be met.
China Unicom said earlier this month that it would offer eight iPhone subscription packages costing between 126 and 886 yuan ($18.5-130) a month.

But in China, most people use pre-paid mobile packages, in part because subscription contracts require an employer guarantee or government documents such as a residence permit that can be hard to get in major cities, Rein said.

Unicom will also sell stand-alone handsets, but at a high price, with the cheapest at 4,999 yuan, totally out of range for the average Chinese consumer.

Beyond the hefty price tag, the first batch of official iPhones will come without WiFi — an important selling point both in China and globally. With WiFi disabled, there will not be many buyers, said Analyst.

Source : Konaxis

Unicom is pinning its hopes on the iPhone as it tries to win market share and more high-end users in China’s highly competitive telecoms market.

The mobile operator said it would start selling 3G iPhones for about CNY5,000 ($732) each on October 1, without specifying which model. Subscribers could choose from eight service plans, ranging from CNY126 to CNY886 per month. Users who signed two-year contracts of above CNY186 per month would receive handset subsidies of up to CNY4,253.

China Mobile, Unicom’s bigger rival, is set to launch the 3G OPhone based on Google’s Android operating system. It also plans to launch smartphones made by Dell, the US computer manufacturer, China’s Lenovo and Taiwan’s HTC.

China Telecom, the smallest operator, is in talks with Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and Palm to offer devices. Unicom plans to sell its own Google phones made by Samsung in December for about CNY4,500 each.

Sandy Shen, an analyst at Gartner, said that investors were “worried that 3G uptake would be slow because prices have been set quite high”, adding that “subscribers would probably stick to their 2G services for a while”.

Source : Konaxis

Half of Chinese people have no mobile phones and Chinese companies are beginning to roll out third-generation services.

Shipments of smart phones will more than triple in China by 2013 from 11 million last year, said an analyst.

China Unicom, which trails China Mobile Ltd. in the wireless market, may use the iPhone to narrow that gap.

Unicom had 141.1 million wireless-phone users at the end of July, fewer than a third of China Mobile?s 497.7 million. Unicom plans to invest 100 billion yuan in mobile services during 2009 and 2010, with most of the money going into its 3G network.

Source : Konaxis