China Unicom claims more than 1 million iPhone users

China Unicom, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in China, has claimed that it now has over one million iPhone users under contract. Citing a client note from Deutsche Bank which quoted China Unicom directly, Fortune reports that 73% of Unicom’s iPhone users are also users of the company’s largest competitor, China Mobile, a stat gleaned from the company’s standard procedure of asking for customers’ current numbers when signing them up for a new plan. According to the report, 35-38% of those users on both networks say they plan to continue using both carriers for another six months; the average iPhone user provides 260 yuan (roughly $39) to China Mobile, compared to 134 yuan for regular 3G users and 39.8 yuan for customers who stick with the company’s 2G network.