China Unicom reports that it has now sold 100,000 iPhones since the device’s official launch in China in October. The carrier had indicated in early November that it had signed up only 5,000 subscribers in the first weekend of the iPhone launch, and later reports from a major online electronics retailer revealed that only five iPhones had been sold through that particular outlet.
However, China Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing now reports that the carrier has actually sold 100,000 iPhones in the past 40 days, indicating in an interview on Thursday that most reports have been focusing on the contract-free price of the iPhone in China (US$1,033 for the 32GB iPhone 3GS) rather than the subsidized pricing models that are available under various monthly plans, four of which actually offer the iPhone hardware for free under contract. Further, Chang described earlier reports that China Unicom had contracted with Apple to purchase 5 million iPhones over a five-year period as “not entirely accurate” but added that the company is rethinking its marketing strategy and believes it could possibly sell more than that number.
The official iPhone sold in China does not include Wi-Fi capabilities due to government regulations, while fully-capable iPhone models have been available for import into China from other countries such as Hong Kong since long before the official iPhone Chinese release. It is commonly believed that these factors have contributed to comparatively slow sales of the official iPhone in China, where mobile phone subscribers are estimated to number more than 720 million.