After a disappointing launch, Apple is starting to get some traction in China with its iPhone. China Unicom, the second-largest wireless operator in the Asian nation, reports it has sold more than 100,000 iPhones since it launched on Oct. 30.
That’s still a disappointing figure compared to launches elsewhere. Indeed, China Unicom’s iPhone sales hardly compare to iPhone sales in the rest of the world after a month. Apple sold 270,000 iPhones within 30 hours after the iPhone first became available in the U.S. in 2007.
But the 100,000 iPhone milestone is a positive sign for China Unicom and Apple after what could best be described as a lukewarm welcome. China Unicom sold only 5,000 iPhones among its 144 million subscribers in the first four days of availability. Analysts said gray-market iPhones that preceded the legitimate version could be impacting sales, as could the high price of $730 to $1,020 per phone.
Uphone Could Edge Out iPhone
Mike Disabato, a senior analyst at the Burton Group, isn’t impressed with the 100,000 milestone. “The iPhone is expensive and most Chinese consumers don’t have that much money,” he said. “The sales might also depend on what they did to the iPhone to cripple it in China, and of course Apple is not going to tell you anything about that.”
Meanwhile, China Unicom isn’t putting all its smartphone eggs in one basket. In fact, it appears to be preparing to edge out the iPhone. The company is expanding its 3G wireless handset portfolio with a new brand called the Uphone. That phone will run on the company’s proprietary UniPlus operating system, which is based on Google’s Android mobile platform.
According to Zacks Equity Research, China Unicom is also planning to launch an application store called the UniStore that will feature Uphone-based applications. The store reportedly resembles Apple’s App Store…