iPhone Finally Headed To China? China Unicom Reportedly Purchases 5 Million iPhones
August 13, 2009
The iPhone is finally making its way to China! Sure it is, we have heard that one before. But today maybe, just maybe the rumors may actually be true. International Business Times is reporting that the China Unicom has purchased 5 million China-specific iPhones and will begin selling them in September.
China Unicom, the potential exclusive distributor of iPhones in China, has poured 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) to buy 5 million units from Apple, ready to sell the first batch in September, local media reported on Wednesday. China Unicom had already paid Apple 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) for 5 million WCDMA standard iPhones with unit price of 2,000 yuan ($293), CBN news said, citing a well-informed source.These China-specific iPhones will be sporting the WCDMA standard and will apparently not include Wi-Fi. The report also states that China Unicom may be getting a pretty good deal because Apple has given up its usual sharing of profit dividends model due to the competitive market, and will instead be simply profiting off of the sale of the units to China Unicom. China Unicom will reportedly be offering the devices to consumers at about 2,400 yuan ($351) for the 8GB model and 4,800 yuan ($702) for the 16GB model.