China Unicom: we've sold 100,000 iPhones

Amid claims of poor iPhone sales, Dow Jones reports that China Unicom (CU) has sold 100,000 iPhones since the official launch in October of this year. While this represents a pickup in sales numbers -- CU reported selling just 5,000 units in the first 4 days -- it isn't incredibly impressive. China is the world's largest wireless market by subscriber accounts, and CU is the country's 2nd-largest carrier (China Mobile is first), representing some 144 million users as of October of 2009, according to Paul Wuh, an analyst covering China Unicom for Samsung Securities.

"iPhone sales have been disappointing," Wuh said. "For China Unicom, with 144 million subscribers, 100,000 iPhone users aren't going to do anything for their revenue."

What's behind all of it? As we've said before, the lack of Wi-Fi, strong black market and high prices are hindrances. Back in August of this year, China Unicom and Apple announced a 3-year deal. CU buys the handsets from Apple on a wholesale basis and does not participate in revenue sharing. China Unicom hopes that this deal will give them a leg-up on industry leader China Mobile.

[Via Macsimum News]
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