China Unicom nets over 100K iPhone 5 preorders on first day of availability
Second-largest Chinese wireless carrier China Unicom opened up pre-sale reservations for Apple's iPhone 5 on Monday and saw over 100,000 preorders for the device ahead of its official launch in that country on Dec. 14.
The final tally came in at 4 p.m. on Tuesday local China time, less than one day after China Unicom started preorder sales of Apple's newest handset, reports Sina Tech. A separate report from Sohu affirmed the China Unicom numbers and added that China Telecom subsidiary Beijing Telecom received more than 5,000 orders on Sunday when it opened iPhone 5 sales.
Earlier on Monday, Apple announced it would be launching the iPhone 5 in more than 50 countries in a staggered release through December as part of the fastest rollout in company history. The device finally received a network license last week after slogging through the country's approval process for nearly a month.
It was rumored in that China Unicom would be selling what would become the iPhone 5 by the end of the year after a successful negotiations session in September. The telecom has been a partner carrier since it signed on to a three-year deal in 2009.
China's booming smartphone market is important for Apple, as of September the company held about a 15 percent share, but the iPhone has yet to tap into the subscriber base held by the world's largest carrier China Mobile. The telecom announced in March that over 15 million iPhones were in operation on its network despite not being an Apple partner. A similar situation exists with U.S. provider T-Mobile, however on a much smaller scale.
As for the Dec. 14 rollout, China Unicom didn't require presale customers to put money down on the iPhone 5, instead opting for an ID card and telephone number verification system that could skirt issues previously seen with large Apple product launches.
The final tally came in at 4 p.m. on Tuesday local China time, less than one day after China Unicom started preorder sales of Apple's newest handset, reports Sina Tech. A separate report from Sohu affirmed the China Unicom numbers and added that China Telecom subsidiary Beijing Telecom received more than 5,000 orders on Sunday when it opened iPhone 5 sales.
Earlier on Monday, Apple announced it would be launching the iPhone 5 in more than 50 countries in a staggered release through December as part of the fastest rollout in company history. The device finally received a network license last week after slogging through the country's approval process for nearly a month.
It was rumored in that China Unicom would be selling what would become the iPhone 5 by the end of the year after a successful negotiations session in September. The telecom has been a partner carrier since it signed on to a three-year deal in 2009.
China's booming smartphone market is important for Apple, as of September the company held about a 15 percent share, but the iPhone has yet to tap into the subscriber base held by the world's largest carrier China Mobile. The telecom announced in March that over 15 million iPhones were in operation on its network despite not being an Apple partner. A similar situation exists with U.S. provider T-Mobile, however on a much smaller scale.
As for the Dec. 14 rollout, China Unicom didn't require presale customers to put money down on the iPhone 5, instead opting for an ID card and telephone number verification system that could skirt issues previously seen with large Apple product launches.
Comments
Here's another doozy - " but the iPhone has yet to tap into the subscriber base held by the world's largest carrier China Mobile. The telecom announced in March that over 15 million iPhones were in operation on its network despite not being an Apple partner" - as there are already over 15 MILLION iPhones on China Mobile, they have obviously tapped into their user base, just not to the extent of their full potential.
iphone5 preorders is 100,000 in 1 day.
Enough said. Apple is piercing through the heart and soul of every company in the world and will continue to advance as long as they keep innovating and maintain their superb product quality in future products. I was a hardcore PC user once, but after I switched to a Mac, I realized how foolish I was. This company is relentless and has an elusive quality that can not be measured by any standard--Apple is the standard. It will grow and and dominate all tech companies. Believe it or not, it will happen. The end.
Pre-orders in south korea are 300,000
China Mobil needs to get with the program by using LTE.
In the mean time, China Unicom and China Telecom can give Apple a good bite of the Chinese market.
Time will tell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesmondFargo
Pre-orders in south korea are 300,000
Really?
Mmm. Surprising.
you would think they would, why lose customers?
Agreed, Samsung has an amazing level of support and the company is a source of national pride for many Koreans.
insane numbers but awesome for investors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allenbf
insane numbers but awesome for investors.
I am not sure 100k in China is an insane number. But it's a good start.
We read so much about pros and cons of iOS v. Android in the context of apps and usability. I am very curious to hear how the two OSes compare in China - i.e. how many Chinese language apps are there in each case? Which OS is easier to use in a language that is completely different from English?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ankleskater
I am not sure 100k in China is an insane number. But it's a good start.
That's just one country out of the 50 being rolled out. South Korea had 300k. Combined (and not accounting for the other 48 countries) it's insane numbers and great for investors. That's what I meant
The biggest complaint I've heard about iOS is that it doesn't include a T9 keyboard (and unlike Android, there is no way to add keyboards). Some Chinese apps provide their own T9 keyboard, but this is far from ideal.
Now, Russia's smartphone penetration is much lower at 9%. India is even lower at 4% (and has the 2nd largest population in the world). Even assuming the same income gap in those two nations, they just might as promising as China in terms of market size. Apple has brand name recognition in China, but not in the other two nations. There is work to be done, and profits to be made.
Data plans aren't bad in China. I pay about $5 a month for a plan with 150 MB of data and 50 minutes of outgoing voice. But the phone itself is definitely unaffordable for most people. When people see my iPhone, they often say to me "you must be rich!"