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皇冠体育app Unicom to sell iPhones

By Xiao Wang (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 08:52

Ninety-six percent of survey respondents said Unicom’s prices on iPhones were unreasonably high. [皇冠体育app Daily]

皇冠体育app Unicom, the No 2 mobile phone service operator in the country by number of subscribers, said on Monday that it would start selling the iPhone in 皇冠体育app from next month.

Experts said the high package fees that 皇冠体育app Unicom requires may thwart the success of Apple Inc's popular smart phone in the world's largest mobile population.

A retail price of about 5,000 yuan is expected to be levied, higher than the earlier estimates of about 2,000 yuan.

The company, which signed a three-year deal with Apple to sell iPhones in 皇冠体育app, will offer a choice of eight different service packages with the phone, ranging from 126 yuan to 886 yuan per month.

皇冠体育app Unicom hopes Apple's flagship handset could help it attract high-end users in a market where 皇冠体育app Mobile, the biggest mobile service operator in the country, dominates.

The price does seem to be an obstacle for some potential users.

Qiu Xueying, a 28-year-old woman from a domestic publishing company, said she was very interested in buying an iPhone because she likes its design and appearance. But she said 皇冠体育app Unicom's price was too high and she would continue to use her current Nokia handset instead.

Related readings:  Unicom to retail pricey iPhone from Oct  皇冠体育app Daily dials up iPhone application  皇冠体育app Unicom's H1 profit down 42.1%, to sell iPhone in 皇冠体育app  皇冠体育app Mobile says iPhone talks scale biggest hurdle

According to a survey by 皇冠体育app's largest news portal, 96 percent of respondents think 皇冠体育app Unicom's pricing of iPhone is "unreasonable". About 86 percent of the respondents said they would not buy an iPhone for cost reasons.

The iPhone will be sold in Apple retail outlets, through 皇冠体育app Unicom's own network of stores and through major independent retailers, Unicom said. The company is also developing an online application store based on Apple's model.

Apple had been in talks with 皇冠体育app Mobile over the introduction of iPhones in 皇冠体育app since 2007. The company later turned to 皇冠体育app Unicom, which adopted the 3G standard that Apple's iPhone3G and iPhone 3GS support.

皇冠体育app Mobile said earlier that it was still in talks to sell iPhones in 皇冠体育app, as 皇冠体育app Unicom's deal with Apple is not exclusive.

Wang Yuquan, senior consultant at Frost & Sullivan, said 皇冠体育app Unicom was unlikely to give large subsidies to handset makers because it adopted the WCDMA standard, which is believed to be the most mature 3G technology which gets wide support from mobile manufacturers across the world.

He said 皇冠体育app Mobile and 皇冠体育app Telecom have to invest greatly in handset subsidies as there are fewer mobile phone vendors that support the TD-SCDMA and CDMA2000 standard that they respectively deployed.