Unicom Puts Hefty Price Tag on the iPhone

[Michael Essany]

Image via Chinahush

It's a big day for iPhone distribution news already this morning.

First, we learn that France Telecom's Orange will begin marketing the iPhone later this year, and now we're hearing that China Unicom - China's second largest mobile carrier - has a price in mind for its roll-out plan for the iPhone next month.

According to news from Reuters, China Unicom will introduce the iPhone in October at a retail price of 5,000 yuan, which is approximately $730.

The high price tag may force buyers of the popular handsets to sign up for subsidized packages carrying lower handset prices but also longer-term contract commitments, as competition heats up in China's recently reformed telecoms sector.

Just last month, China Unicom reached a three-year agreement with Apple after a considerable period of time that saw both the folks at Apple and officials in China attempting to bring the popular handset to the hundreds of millions of mobile sucscribers already in China. According to Reuters, most mobile customers in China still use older 2G services.

CLSA analyst Francis Cheung said the pricing is likely to limit the phones to the highest end of the market, a relatively small but lucrative segment now dominated by the country's biggest carrier, China Mobile. "They look at this as a high end product, not mass market. All these plans offer subsidized phones," he said.

China's push for 3G and a new commitment to the largest mobile market in the world is already yielding positive results, even in commercial trials. For example, Unicom claims to have signed up 530,000 3G users just since in May. That number includes 430,000 cell phone users and 100,000 users of data cards for connecting computers to the Internet.

"Most people will not buy a phone separate from a plan. It's very expensive. I do get the sense there are going to be affordability issues."

You think?!?!

Indeed, the iPhone comes at a very high price, yet in much of Asia, that price tag is par for the course. In Hong Kong, for example, the iPhone retails for approximately $695, which isn't all that much of a reduced price from its Chinese counterpart.

What will truly be fascinating to watch is the comprehensive introduction of the iPhone to the Chinese marketplace at these prices. Like many others, I believe the price will have to come down substantially in order for the Chinese (and Apple) to fully realize the selling potential and growth the device is capable of achieving in the Chinese marketplace.

[MaxRabbit]

Wow... And the cost to build is less than half that!

[JustinPizzle]

so glad my 3G[S] was 200$

[jetfuel495]

So it costs China $187 to build the iPhone... And they sell it for $730?

Kinda makes me wish I was in on this.

[Jahooba]

I thought Hong Kong was a city in China. A quick google search says that China took it over in 1997 under a contract that says Hong Kong will maintain its Capitalist economic system until 2047, at which time China will destroy it by turning it into a communist system. That's sad.

I wonder what kind of phones they'll have in 2047. Perhaps Apple will provide that nation with "The People's Phone"

[tudtran]

Damn. For $730, it's better be unlocked and no contract.

[enono]

Earlier news reports that Unicom iPhone doesn't even come with WiFi!
But they will be factory unlocked, thou.

[mikerlx]

Wish my 2G was factory unlocked.

[Kiserai]

So it costs China $187 to build the iPhone... And they sell it for $730?

Kinda makes me wish I was in on this.

You can be. It's called STOCK.

[khiphone3g]

You can be. It's called STOCK.

I think that was what he meant when he said "was"

[HaiLong]

This ad literally translates to: "This is okay to have. It is also okay to not have."

[Kruejl]

Apple sure scored on this one.

[bengo]

so glad my 3G[S] was 200$

That's only what you paid up front.

[rwin84]

extortion and no wifi?!? crap...

[Xagest]

Wouldn't this just encourage people to buy a contract, cancel it, pay the cancellation fee, then sell the iPhone for lower for massive profits, undercutting the company? I mean, unless the cancellation fees are like 500 dollars or something...

[confucious]

It's only in the US as far as I know that you can pay an ETF.
In most other countries you have to pay for the full term of your contract - if you sign up, you pay.

[mdc929]

i need a really big book so i can start smacking myself with it for not buying stock yet