Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Retail, Apple Financial, iPhone
China Unicom's dismal iPhone sales
Two weeks into official iPhone sales, China Unicom has sold only 5 units* through the online retailer Taobao.com according to PCWorld. China Unicom sells iPhones through its own site, but doesn't share sales figures. Still, PCWorld reports, Taobao.com is the country's largest e-commerce site, and has a large iPhone section. What could account for the poor performance? The Golden Shield Project for one, which (among other things) prevents the sale of iPhones with Wi-Fi enabled. iPhones purchased outside of China do have Wi-Fi, of course. Another factor could be China's bustling black market. Despite the recent official release, the iPhone has been available in China for quite some time now. AppleInsider estimates that nearly 2 million iPhones are already circulating China, most of them jailbroken.
Cost is another factor. For example, a contract-free 32GB iPhone 3GS costs 6,999 yuan (approximately US$1,024 as of this writing) in China, compared to about US$800 in Hong Kong.
The news isn't all gloom-and-doom, however. AppleInsider reports that those who do purchase iPhones legitimately are flocking to the App Store. Still, the problem of getting more official iPhones into the hands of Chinese customers remains.
*As of Dec. 3rd, 2009.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Murphy Mac said 12:49PM on 12-04-2009
I don't see how this number can be accurate.
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crsh said 7:17PM on 12-05-2009
I doubt the number is accurate, but even if it were 5000 instead of 5 it'd still be very disappointing.
waiownsyou said 11:29AM on 12-04-2009
> "The news isn't all gloom-and-doom, however. AppleInsider reports that those who do purchase iPhones legitimately are flocking to the App Store."
> "...China Unicom has sold only 5 units* through the online retailer Taobao.com according to PCWorld."
I lol'd
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wase4711 said 11:38AM on 12-04-2009
and we are supposed to care....... why????
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mentalsticks said 11:57AM on 12-04-2009
er... because we're interested in Apple news?
Dan Woods said 2:39PM on 12-04-2009
Apple have thrown away a lot of integrity to get into the legitimate Chinese Market.
Disabling WiFi has created a different model of iPhone to the rest of the entire *planet*, and so far they've only sold 5 units!
wase4711 said 12:03PM on 12-04-2009
sorry, its just that with all the problems with the USA economy, and since China has had so much of an effect on what has happened to us in the last few years, its hard for me to care about them having a tough time selling Iphones over there..
As mentioned in the article, there are probably millions of hacked/cloned/stolen ones in use there now, since that is how they generally take a great idea/product from the usa and completely bastardize it...
As you can tell, I am not a big fan of that country....
I'll not post on this topic any more..sorry for the rant...
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tiffal1ff said 1:00PM on 12-04-2009
Somebody's got a chip on their shoulder.
What'd they do, rape your firstborn or something?
Gminor said 2:43PM on 12-04-2009
Posting such long insulting comment while saying "I don't care" is pure retardism. You do understand you have the right to remain silent...
puhsitch said 11:06PM on 12-04-2009
It sounds like you care a lot...just in the opposite direction, right?
joeybeast said 12:39PM on 12-04-2009
no shit, who want's to pay 200 bucks more for an inferior product?
capitalism for the win.
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starkruzr said 2:42PM on 12-04-2009
Can Chinese customers hack WiFi support into their phones? Is it just disabled or actually removed?
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Tironius said 4:01PM on 12-04-2009
Chinese only care about what is cheap, cheap, cheap. iPhone ain't it.
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Tcrown said 4:27PM on 12-04-2009
In India people have been clamoring for a 3Gs since it's release but Apple and it's cell partners have kept quite about availability, and keep flogging the almost year old 3G and also no official Apple stores in the third biggest economy and second biggest democracy in the world.
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Ron said 9:36PM on 12-04-2009
5 units?
Maybe you can quote your source...
Something tells me that a "unit" is something other than a single iPhone - either that, or someone doesn't have their facts straight.
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robertlam1818 said 8:52PM on 12-04-2009
Software is the problem. Qq app on the iPhone has limited function. It does not have qq game. Can't play qq farm. Friends complain it is not the same way the used to type Chinese with other phones.
Wife friend bought one in china and does not know what to do with it and sold it.
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jbelkin said 8:53PM on 12-04-2009
It should also be noted that in China, the mail system is iffy, people are generally out & about - much like in most Euro capital cities and if you can afford an iphone, you can afford to hand an assistant money to go buy it for you ... credit cards are not hard to get if you can get an iphone but for most people, it's still not normal - bottom line is internet buying is like mail order in the US 60 years, yea, you could do it but why bother - just walk down the street instead of "mailing" off your money to some unknown place? The comparison is like saying a car dealer only sold 5 cars on ebay - most people just don't shop for cars that way in the US and most people don't really shop that way in China.
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jb510 said 12:28PM on 12-06-2009
Mostly accurate. However even if you can get a credit card in in China few people use them and fewer except them as payment. Pin/debit type cards are more popular but still not as widely excepted or used as in West.
I concur that most Chinese with the funds to buy an iPhone are savy enough to get one with wifi either locally on the black market or through foriegn channels.
All of this press over what Taobai sold while ignoring all the legitamate sales through brick and morter sales is ridiculous. Is really like to see a number for total wifi neutered phones sold in China but haven't yet.
mentalsticks said 3:21AM on 12-05-2009
in that case, permit me to say:
"Wow, you're one of the thickest morons I've ever come across on the interwebs. And believe me, that's quite a feat."
Yay Freedom of Speech!
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Joshua Jackson said 11:06AM on 12-06-2009
My parents live in Beijing and are buying a lot of iPhones here in the US for people over there. Why should they pay $1000 for an iPhone without WiFi when they can get one from the US for $400 or get one on the gray market in Beijing for $800? China Unicom's sales prices and the Chinese government's ridiculous WiFi restriction are to blame here. Do not be fooled, iPhone's are widely used and are readily available. You'd just have to be daft to buy one from the official reseller, that's all!
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