China Unicom, the country’s second-largest carrier, will offer the iPhone starting in mid-October. And in pricing that is rather the opposite of the low upfront cost and high monthly pricing at AT&T, they’ll be selling the device almost at cost and pairing it with plans that make ours look positively extortionate.
According to Xinhua News as reported by Fortune, an 8GB iPhone 3G will start at 2075元 (~$303); previous reports had the 16GB 3G going for 2999元 (~$439), which, if accurate, posits a thousand yuan premium on each successive upgrade. 3GS pricing is still speculative, but if we extrapolate: 3GS 16GB for ~$585 and a 32GB for ~$730. The pricing ends up being a little sloppy when you translate it, but it looks like they’re not afraid to put a big price tag on it. And of course, it’s totally possible that they’ll shift both down by 500元 to ease upsells, which gives slightly more palatable figures.
Of course, then you consider that the plan they’re signing you up for is 126元, or around $18.45. Compared with paying $80 a month for your iPhone (and some pay far more), you’d break even in a couple months, even with the 3GS. Whether that lower price indicates a similarly lowered level of service is beyond my power to determine. And of course, some would say AT&T hasn’t been giving its iPhone users $80 worth of network every month.
With 140 million subscribers, China Unicom is still a midget compared with China Mobile, but as was the case with AT&T, having an iPhone on their side could lure scores of millions over from the other side. There is plenty of demand despite Asian mobile users generally preferring a different kind of handset, and unlike its launch here in the US, the iPhone will be introduced as an established and proven product with a huge amount of resources already available to it. This makes it seem like less of a risk to potential subscriber, and therefore no risk-distribution strategy (like spreading the cost out over two years) is necessary to make it seem reasonable.
In any case, it’s all gravy for Apple. They gets their money and they makes their incremental upgrades. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about how much money Apple stands to make over there. And, at the risk of sounding political, they have less to worry about from the Chinese as far as complaints about restrictive licensing and app policies. I dare say that subscribers there are used to such draconian measures.
So, can I get a chinese Iphone to work elsewhere on other networks and countries or will it be locked to China Unicom?
What do you mean by “our pricing”..Your site has people from countries other than US too, I presume..or am I the only out?
Compare your article with this one: http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/09/25/chinese-iphones-to-start-at-300-18-45mos/
and see how well the author gives a perspective on the prices..When you posted the prices, I had no idea if $303 was less or high..Please, show some respect to your international audience..
That’s the article I sourced. I used the same figures.
Yeah, but I read Techcrunch more, and had no idea how big $303 was for an iPhone..Converting to Indian rupees, it didn’t seem large till I realized from the other article that you get the same for $99 in US..
Only around 46% of your audience is American (according to Alexa). How do the rest comprehend the figures in the article..
Stop complaining you arrogant Indian. This is an American site run in America read mostly by Americans. Granted it is sometimes read by foreigners like you, this doesn’t take away from the fact that the gist of this site is American.
_|_
Did you too lose your job sweety?
it’s always surprising when you see an ignorant and arrogant ethnocentric jingoistic American who can use more or less proper grammar in multiple consecutive sentences. God get me out of this country please.
It smells like curry in here.
Anyway, the Chinese aren’t much better. Chinese are simply Indians who can use eating utensils.
Is it indian or injun?
Seriously guys? I’m only not moderating your comments because I don’t want to start being the goddamn bigot police around here. Please go away, you’re not welcome.
David and Tom, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Why are you so insecure?
The majority of your country still destitute?
It will work with whatever pricing your cell company has you set up at.
I always read it as “China Unicorn” and get way too excited:-(
Yeah, me too. A beautiful name for a not so nice cosby though.
Yeah, but I bet they ban my iFalungong app in the iStore otherwise I’ll have to launch the iFreedomOfSpeech app as well
Probably will since they banned my iGuantanamo Bay app.
and iWaterBoard as well…
Come to think of it, their uber cheap labour costs and hard working practices have let the rich westerners buy the iphone in the first place, so its only fair that they can spend a years wage and buy one as well :)
i wanted to say someting similar, and i checked there http://www.worldsalaries.org/busdriver.shtml. A chinese bus driver earns $500 a month and an american one $1500. So $20 a month is cheaper in China than $80 a month in the US… Still, $500 is maybe considered a high salary compared to average salary in China, while $1500 is a low salary here.
I think you read the table wrong. I live in China and there is no way a bus driver makes $500 a month. You were reading the adjusted values, not the true value. The average salary here in China is about 1000 RMB a month, or about US$150. The difference is that the cost of living so so much less than in the west. A coke is 2 RMB and my rent for my nice western style apartment is 1600 RMB. These prices for the phone are high but nothing for the more affluent. Too bad they wasted so much time dithering around with the details. I can buy a Hong Kong iPhone that is unlocked or a knock-off model. They are everywhere. Those that wanted an iPhone probably already have one.
According to the latest statistics, the national average of employee salary in 2008 was 29,229 annually or about 2,436 a month ($375). In Beijing, the average was 44,715 annually in 2008 or about 3,726 a month ($573).
Curious where in china you actually live ;)
Source:
1. beijing average salary 2008 – http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sohu.com%2F20090325%2Fn263002039.shtml&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&history_state0=
2. national average salary 2008 – http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.163.com%2F09%2F0409%2F10%2F56EVQB500001124J.html&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&history_state0=
this tom def. doesn’t live in big cities in China…. i live in Shanghai. the apt i live in costs half a million USD and would rent for at least 1000USD a month if not for the fact that my cousin owns it and i don’t pay any rent…
cost of living in shanghai, beijing and shenzhen are going way up… salaries have climbed up too but that just depends on what kind of jobs you have…
Absolutly, somebody was mis-led buy the offical statistics , actually, earning 1000RMB ~1500 RMB ($180~$200) is quite normal here. as a local chinese, i can tell u guys that iphone here is just for the affluent. I lives in Wuhan，a medium sized city in China,maybe among the top ten.
PS. All cellphones in china are wifi-disabled.
Allen,
Are you the relative that came to visit and never left?
(just teasing.)
Allen, same here. When I lived in Beijing, I rented what amounted to an 400 SF efficiency for $2000 per month. I used to joke that my bathroom was so small I could “SS&S” at the same time.
I would sign right away if an operator would do the same here in US. I am actually ready to pay even more for the handset (let’s say $800), if I can get a $20 montly fee that includes whatever minutes (>60min) + unlimited data.
Bearing the article and comments in mind, 140m subscribers is nearly half the population of the US and that’s the 2nd largest mobile carrier in China. Let’s say they increase their subscriber base by 20% once the iPhone rolls out. That’s $560 million A MONTH, plus the number of current subscribers who go for the iPhone, in revenue. Yeah, they’re still rolling in dough.
I read in the translated version of China Unicom’s press release that the Chinese iPhone will have wifi disabled.
Can anyone confirm this?
Yeah but thats not news. It’s been written about for a few months that the Chinese iPhone would not have Wifi.
It’s not news here. No phone’s wifi enabled.
I am waiting for my contract to end so I can cancel my iphone. Sick of paying the high monthly charge. If I could get it for $300 and pay under $40/month, I would be happy.
Also the upgrade to the 3GS raises the price another $15/month, which I think it ridiculous. So I am stuck with my first generation iphone until my contract expires.
i cancelled my iphone about 2 weeks ago… went back to verizon and got a simple little htc ozone – BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE IN MY LIF FOR A PHONE.
My Verizon is $100 cheaper than iphon AND any radio station streaming with Windows Media = I can receive and Verizon’s network is 100000 times better.
Goodbye Dropped calls… Goodbye Hyped Phone… I am happy as ever now with my phone!
Where’d you get that picture of the 100RMB bill? those bills don’t exist anymore :) (the ones with that design)
Talk about expensive.. why cant they sell these device without a carrier plan?
Yep, in the U.S. it is the extortioate monthly service plans that are the problem. Plans should range from around 20 to 50 dollars with various tiers of service.
A scandal how pricey, mobile device monthly plans are!!
The U.S. carriers follow the old marketing strategy -
give away the razors and charge a premium price for the blades.
I’m sure my Verizon wireless contract generates a lot of profit for them. Multiple that by 15 million (???) subscribers.
I would rather pay full price for a phone and have a lower monthly fee. But, that generates a much lower gross profit per contract.
Is everyone locked to a carrier? Here in Hong Kong, the iPhone is unlocked everywhere (including Apple’s online store and all major electronics retailers)
The only exception is 3, the official Hong Kong iPhone carrier, where you have to buy the iPhone with an contract.
As with rich people from China, I’m sure they can easily come down to Hong Kong to buy an unlocked version, and head back up to China. Easy.
Isn’t interesting how iphone 3GS is made in China, but they are just getting it(officially) months after USA customers.
Couple things to add
- When I was in Shanghai in 2008, my A-Yi (maid) is getting RMB $2200 per month. My admin is getting RMB $7000.
- I am back in the States now. AT&T/iPhone monthly is crazy. I am using an unlocked HTC Magic on AT&T network….$15 for umlimited data
yeah we may pay $80 + a month for AT&T service here in the US but at least in this country we have privacy from warrantless… oh… wait… nevermind…
This wont matter in a year when I go Android.
I don’t see why this is newsworthy, really? You live in a network dominated market, where your phone is subsidised in return for you paying a high-ish tariff. A market like China is handset driven, where you pay full price (or close to) but you get your monthly fee much cheaper. In the end, you are still paying for the phone and for your service, it’s just which way the market has grown up.
I think that is reasonable as it is how the telecommunication networks cost in China. It is just the fact that US mobile is much more pricey than China in some sense, but you get to look at how much people earn on average for a more accurate figure.
I guess we have it the best in the UK. It’s only 440GBP for an iphone 3GS 16GB pre-paid (no contract), and you get free data for a year, thus saving 120GBP a year. So it’s effectively 320GBP.
Are you crazy? 440GBP is like what, a million dollars?!?
I am living in Shanghai,maybe I can tell you something about Chinese.
1. The bus driver can earn more than 3000yuan/month ($430/month).
2. We pay high rent in Shanghai, two rooms in the city 2500yuan/month ($360/month)
3. I paid $260 for my N78, without wifi, not support CDMA.
4. We paid more money to buy the cellphone than USA, though it produce in China.
5. China mobile is the biggest operator, they use TD-CDMA, however, the system it’s too bad, this system be forced carry out by the gov. They have no choice. The China Unicom get the best products they have and do nothing, only expect the cash flow.
I am shocked to see the comments posted by this low class bastard name David Ord. How ignorant this ass hole is.
Ignorant? You’re the one who didn’t know about the Indian-eating utensils issue until I mentioned it.
Again, the Chinese aren’t much better. The only true utensils they can be credited with being able to use are chopsticks.
Way to go David, annoy a bed-wetter!!! ha ha ha..
not $80 worth of network,but 80 yuan Or ￥80 ！
This is going to be interesting as I have been to China on several occasions and knock offs iPhones are every where. Everyone has a knock off iPhone they want to sell you. It’s crazy!
I do agree with Mr Swift that those figures are out of range. We have used labor there several times. They are cheap and I mean cheap.
This is the fake iphone. But if you like, the products seems well, the price is very low, about $114/pc.
The ¥126.00 might just be a little bit tricky though, the data packages might not be enough for the average user, and charge him for more. I would be skeptical about this until the final list of plans come out. The way people do business here in China is kind of shrewd. hehe
China Mobile is the biggest one, not Unicom, I dare Mobile will do something.
People in mainland China generally pay only when they have money, and they like having a large sum of deposit in banks, and they rarely use credit card, this is oposite to American’s habit and life style. The pricing structure is just such reflection.
True, the Orientals, by nature, are not the type to plan ahead. They are impulsive, similar to the Afriques.
I am guessing that unlike the americans, chinese consumers can actually do math, so this kind of deal is the only way they can sell iphones over there.
WHF, if the whole world is like the US, where would you get the cheap labor from?
You bloody sons of racist minded morons, the article title says nothing Indians or Afriques. If nothing good comes out of those foolish typing fingers. Please learn not to post comments.
where did you get that silly fake 100 yuan note?
I don’t think anyone has seen the prices of the iPhone here in Australia – they are deadset like $700+ AUD – with conversion rates thats about $600 US for a 16GB 3GS!!
Apple rips us off in aus – but no ones cares! lol.
It’s not really that easy for Chinese mobile subscribers to just switch to Unicom because they want an iPhone. Geography is an important factor in terms of availability of carriers, and China Mobile is the only game in town for a lot of users.
你丫懂不懂中国文化，一百元的钞票是那样的吗，没文化真可怕。
Good article. Yes china iphone no doubt cheap and not much differ to original. here are i found some of that.. It does helps.
http://www.justcompareit.com/s~q-chinese-iphone.aspx?ag=3
Does anybody know how the Chinese are regulating the appstore in China? Will it be the same as else where or will all games/apps go through another set of checks before being approved for sale there?
I phone is the best phone i ever have. i Have to 2 already 2G and the 3GS. used to have the Nokia N95 and i like my I phone 3GS. Phone just work and it’s all in one. I mean from video, photo to music etc….