China Unicom finally bringing iPhone to world's most populous country?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 28th 2009 3:01AM
posted Jul 28th 2009 3:01AM
In related news, it does sound as if China Unicom bent over backwards a bit to make this all come together, with the article stating that it signed on to move between one and two million units per year regardless of how many consumers actually show up to buy one. If you'll recall, an eerily similar agreement has Russian operators in a world of financial hurt, but we get the feeling the reception in China will be quite a bit warmer. At any rate, it's noted that Unicom will be snapping up the devices from Apple at a cost of around 3,000 Chinese yuan apiece ($439), with end users being asked to pay an undisclosed lesser amount on contract. If all goes well, the units could hit Chinese shops as early as September, though only time will tell how everything shakes out. Oh, and considering that Apple can hardly keep up with iPhone 3GS demand as it is, we suspect it'll want to wait a few months anyway before stressing its supply channels further.
Update: A China Unicom spokeswoman has now been quoted as saying that "we have made progress but there are still some problems to be resolved." Really? Another round of this?
They are actually sticking carrier branding on the casing?
Is it just me or does that logo look like a little baby sperm
its about to sell like crazy
Apple stock is gonna explode.
They already have the fake iphone.
that's actually not true. if you take a look at the poll on major chinese website, 60-70% of ppl are not going to buy one. chinese are way poorer than you imagine...
That 60-70% leaves like 450 million people left in Cina to maket to.
"The "Wo" icon you see just below the speaker"
I'm really afraid 3 (in Sweden and Denmark at least) may do the same thing, wouldn't be the first time though /:
wow the country that actually makes them can finally buy them. All though the workers who put them together probably need a couple years salary to get one.
Oh no, they've been buying them from ages, ever since the first-gen models. You honestly think that the country that makes them wouldn't manage to get any into any retail channels? I won mine in a prize draw there, actually (real, not KIRF, and yes, it came unlocked and jailbroken- Chinese shops FTW).
Unofficial reports put current number of iPhone in China at around 1 million. If subscribers pay less than 3000RMB for one then I'd say it's pretty cheap. There are plenty of phones out there that sell well over 5000RMB. A typical migrant worker assembling the iPhone will make around 1500RMB monthly, since they live in company dorms the living expense is at a minimum, so you'll be surprised at how much their disposable incomes are.
yay!! carrier branding ftw! :p
what's next, wo icons that can't be removed like the default apple app icons...
And then, if you try to break your contract, they torture and throw you out a window.
That's a lot of money, in China or anywhere.
I didn't know China used 3G, they didn't used to. The 2G coverage was excellent though. Glad to see they're adding on 3G.
Actually, 3000 RMB is pretty standard for an unlocked device here. People also seem to change their phones every 12 to 18 months. 3G is relatively recent, though China Mobile has had it's TDSCDMA service at least here in Shanghai for a year or so now... no one seems to be adopting it much though
China started 3G a few months ago. WiFi is banned, however.
I don't expect them to sell exceptionally there though. India is a very similar market to china and the iPhone is anything but a frontline player thanks to the stratospheric pricing.
Actually WiFi is no longer band (it was up until about 2 months ago). The issue dates back to a conflict between Intel and the Chinese government, but looks like WiFi is now 'accepted' though I'm hearing only officially in certain cities and areas within cities.
Hey, it's the Chinese Government. Nobody said it had to make sense :)
I used WiFi a lot when I was there, but it was "under the radar".
China wanted every WiFi base station to use a special Chinese security system instead of WPA. This both gave licensing fees to Chinese companies and presumably was easy for them to break.
3000RMB? No one I know paid that much. Of course some of them were getting them free from a supplier who made them for the Chinese market.
Are you mistakenly quoting smart phone prices as "regular prices"? I know it's tempting to think everyone has a smartphone, but it's not true.
"I used WiFi a lot when I was there, but it was "under the radar"."
--> Yes, this is often the case, though it's publicly advertised since many locations like Coffee Bean and Starbucks have WiFi installations with no issues.
China wanted every WiFi base station to use a special Chinese security system instead of WPA. This both gave licensing fees to Chinese companies and presumably was easy for them to break.
--> Yep. This used to be the situation.
3000RMB? No one I know paid that much. Of course some of them were getting them free from a supplier who made them for the Chinese market.
--> People pay as much as 8000 for a new HTC (I remember when the Titan II came out). iPhone is at least that much now. Cheaper versions of phones can be found, though usually imported illegally from Singapore. Where were you when in China? You're phone is a major status symbol here, so people are willing to pay through the nose - This is my experience at least after livinging here for 8 years
Are you mistakenly quoting smart phone prices as "regular prices"? I know it's tempting to think everyone has a smartphone, but it's not true.
--> Nope. E.g. Nokia N73 when it came out was just under 3000 RMB. Here's the HTC HD for your reference at 6600 RMB
http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail-0db1-51edde8156fbbcdb1c72429f08f74fff.jhtml?cm_cat=1512
Yes, you are assuming everyone has a smartphone. I don't get why rich people and expats assume everyone has a smartphone just because they do. 3000RMB is a lot of money. I'm not saying there aren't people to pay it, but the meat of the market is certainly at a lower point than this.
I'm wondering how this is going to compete against all the pirate iPhones available here in China already. The only advantage I can see is the use of 3G connectivity, not having to hack you iPhone (though probably necessary if they don't decide to go with WiFi), and free software updates.
Thing is, 3G connectivity is VERY limited at present (in Shanghai it's only the outer areas that have it), although there's lots of advertising to lead to the assumption this will change soon.
Anyhow, it'll be great to have it here officially. Now just give us the HTC (Dopod) HERO and that'll make my year :)
Wait, what do you mean "3G coverage is limited to the outer areas"? I managed to find 3G in most parts of Shanghai with my Japanese phone. Oh well, I already have a first-gen iPhone that I won from a local prize draw, the next phone I actually pay for is going to be a Sharp (there's a reason the SH9020C outsold everything else in its price bracket).
I think they'll probably meet that "1-2 million per year" mark. I don't believe that branding thing though. Especially right there below the speaker-hole. I know there's a coating, etc, but I don't think any sort of screen-printed logo would be durable on the glass. Maybe an etching will occur, but I bet the branding will be on the back or via software on-screen identifiers... If at all.
No. it's fake. Look at the little flying icons...they're not the OEM icons. The iPod, Weather and Phone icons are not the official icons, Apple would never allow this. Fake fake fake.
I need sleep, I was confused as to what Chinese unicorns have to do with the iPhone
Glad I'm not the only one who reads that Unicorn.
Which, given what an elusive creature the legit iPhone in China has been so far . . . . Unicorn's not far off the mark.
@Ryan- no, silly, if you actually pay attention the iPhone is in abundant supply in China. I'll leave it to the imagination where it comes from, but I'll drop a hint- Foxconn is only nutso about security when it doesn't make them any money, but if they were to make too many...
By legit, I didn't mean "not a KIRF", I meant legitimate, as in properly purchased, through a carrier. Of course you can get an iPhone in China. I'm not naive.
我=wo
我爱= wo ai
我爱你 =?
the point being?
我爱你 =Lemon Chicken
Since it features a compass icon it has to be a 3gs
Or a chop.
Is the weather icon in Fahrenheit for all countries? People must find it odd to see 3/4 of boiling listed as the temperature on a weather icon.
Nope, here in Australia its in Celsius/Centigrade (take your pick)
its karma, all the good things that came out of china we westerners had to wait a long ass time until we could get them, and now china had to wait a long ass time to get the one thing they wanted that WE made...now if only we could get them a zune.
"Update: A China Unicom spokeswoman has now been quoted as saying that "we have made progress but there are still some problems to be resolved." Really? Another round of this?"
And it all goes back t square one. I'm still betting on Q1 2010.... 2009 is a long shot, but great it if happens
This year, Unicom's going to be pushing those Sharp phones with all they've got- they're one of only two carriers in the whole world with localized versions of the 923SH and 930SH.
The 3GS will sell like hot cakes. Um, i mean hot dumplings.
who cares. man im getting sick of iphones (mine included).
I thought India was the most populous country now...
iOrgane and Sciphones FTW!
The pic is fake. We can't use Youtube in China. so Chinese iPhone must remove the Youtube icon.
Don't bank on advertising companies knowing everything, they just grab whatever is available in the photo stockpile.
The Palm Europe website had the EV-DO Pre for the longest time, only recently replaced with the HSDPA version.
Check out the logo they put up on the device. Doesn't it look like the Sony Walkman logo?
hahahha. that ad slogan is so google translate.
I asked a chinese speaking friend and he says the slogan sounds like...
Apple iPhone about to "CARESS" CHINA!!!
their ad rocks.
IPHONES IN CHINA!
it is funny because Iphone is in essence a chinese cellphone.
how? because of its manufacturing origin? I think more of the components of it were developed in Taiwan then in china.
Just like pretty much every other cellphone except for Nokias (they had started to produce a large number of phones in China but is now closing them down and going back to all production in Europe).
In the same way that Camaros are Canadian, because that's where they're built?
Yes and like Delorean are Irish.
and imho :Taiwan is part of China.
I guess that also means the Chrysler 300C is a Mexi-Canadian car since the engine is built in Mexico and the car is assembled in Canada, the Ford Fusion is a Mexican car, the Saturn Astra is a Belgian car, the GTO is an Australian car and my Subaru is an American car. Glad we got that all cleared up.
troll man is trollin
wow, I guess I'll buy one. glad there's someone who can release something strong enough to beat the China Mobile, I hate China Mobile.
Well I have a report that states otherwise:
http://www.streetinsider.com/Insiders+Blog/China+Unicom+%28CHU%29+Says+No+Apple+%28AAPL%29+iPhone+Deal+Has+Been+Reached/4823682.html
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Y7sBExoe3OqNOg04lwap2w_3d_3d
Pretty much after all the brand new American Dream(*) is made in China.
(*) insert here a image of a suburban family doing a bbq, a mountain, a river and a bald eagle.
btw "Iphone, Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China."
Another non-story story...
Murph, tell me how apple's ass taste?
I don't think they will care.