China Unicom Giving Away iPhone 4S With Contract

[Maura]

Apple announced this week that the iPhone 4S will be going on sale in China on January 13, and now Bloomberg is reporting that China Unicom, which is currently Apple’s sole partner in China, and the second-biggest wireless carrier in the country, will be offering customers an iPhone 4S provided they sign up for a minimum of two years. Starting from the launch date of January 13, China Unicom will be offering a 32 GB iPhone 4S on a three-year contract, or a 16 GB iPhone 4S on a two-year contract costing 386 yuan per month. Bloomberg says that China Unicom is using the lure of a free iPhone 4S to attract lucrative high-end customers who like to watch videos and play games online on their smartphones. According to Bloomberg, this type of customer has become increasingly important to China Unicom, with voice traffic conversely slowing down. Back in August 2011, the company said that 51 percent of its sales growth in the first half of 2011 came from non-voice services, with a seven-times increase in data traffic in the same time period.

Source: China Unicom Offers Free IPhone 4S for Users Who Sign Multiyear Contracts - Bloomberg, via
China Unicom Offering Free iPhone 4S On Contract - Mac Rumors

 

[bab2010]

386¥/month? For 2years? That's too expensive. And what are the services coming with that 386¥ plan per month? Free national outgoing and incoming calls? Unlimited SMS?