China Unicom iPhone 5s/5c Pre-orders Pass 100,000

[Maura]

Bloomberg reports today that China Unicom has announced that online pre-orders for the forthcoming iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s have already surpassed 100,000 units since the launch last week. China Unicom, which is China’s second-biggest wireless carrier, made the announcement via the Chinese micro-blogging site, Weibo. Now it just remains to be seen how much the company will charge for the two new models, as pricing details have yet to be revealed.

As Bloomberg notes, one of the reasons for the release of the cheaper iPhone 5s and c is to halt the iPhone’s market-share slide in China, the biggest global mobile phone market. However, China Unicom’s rival, China Telecom, may be about to throw a spanner in the works, with analysts estimating that the carrier is set to reduce its subsidies for the two new phones by approximately 15% of what is on offer for current iPhone models.

“The plan is more conservative this time,” said Sun Hung Kai Financial analyst Eva Yip of China Telecom’s iPhone subsidy. “The handset subsidy as a percentage of upfront payment is less than that of the iPhone 5 plan.”

As Bloomberg notes, it is possible that China Unicom will also take similar action and reduce its subsidies. Meanwhile, China’s biggest carrier, China Mobile, is still yet to reach an agreement with Apple to distribute the iPhone.

Source: China Unicom Reservations for New IPhones Pass 100,000 Units - Bloomberg

 

[iDude]

Once China Mobile see's how well the 5C/5S are selling they will want a piece of that action!