Apple Reportedly Enters China Mobile-Phone Market

Apple is reportedly cracking the mobile-phone market in China by selling $1.5 million worth of iPhones to China Unicom. The move is expected to help Apple enter the growing market in China while also giving China Unicom a leg up against competitors.

China Unicom subsidiary Guangdong Unicom has reached an agreement with Apple to purchase five million iPhones worth approximately $1.5 million, an insider from the company told China Business News on Thursday. On Friday, the company denied the deal, but observers think that’s because Apple demands secrecy until it’s ready to make the announcement.

The company purchased the iPhones from Apple for $292 per unit, Yu Zhaonan, manager of Guangdong’s consumer department, told the paper. The carrier, however, reportedly has plans to sell the iPhones for more than the purchase price, with the 16GB iPhone selling for $702 and the 8GB model selling for $351. The planned prices are more than Apple charges for the iPhones in the U.S.

Some of the five million iPhones will be unveiled in China Unicom’s 3G kiosks, which are found in supermarkets, in September, Zhou Youmeng, deputy general manager of Guangdong, told China Business News.

Cracking China's Market

The move to sell iPhones to a Chinese carrier is strategic, given Apple products have a cachet worldwide, according to Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg.

“At the end of the day if Apple is able to crack the Chinese cell-phone market, it is a big win for them,” Gartenberg said. “Getting your foot in the door is what makes it the most interesting. It is an opportunity to get into the cell-phone game in that market, which is not an easy market to get in to.”

China’s mobile market may not be the easiest to get into, but it is the largest.

China, with more than 670 million customers, has…

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Tags: Apple Inc, China, China Unicom, deputy general manager, Guangdong Unicom, Interpret analyst, iPhone, iPhones, iTunes, Michael Gartenberg, Multi-touch, Unicom, United States, Zhou Youmeng