“China Unicom Ltd., the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier, said online reservations for Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 5C and 5S have passed 100,000 units since the devices were unveiled last week,” Bloomberg News reports. “China Unicom, which announced the volume of registrations on its official account with Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblog, hasn’t disclosed pricing plans for the handsets which are due to go on sale Sept. 20.”
“A China Telecom monthly plan costing 289 yuan ($47) for the iPhone 5S carries a subsidy of 2,890 yuan, 15 percent less than the 3,400 yuan for the iPhone 5 on the same plan, according to Yip. Jacky Yung, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for China Telecom, declined to comment on Yip’s estimates,” Bloomberg News reports. “‘Generally, the higher monthly iPhone 5S/5C tariff plan or a longer contract period a subscriber chooses, the higher handset subsidy the subscriber could enjoy,’ Yung said in an e-mail today. China Telecom requires a downpayment of 4,488 yuan for any plan with a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5C, and 5,288 yuan for the 5S, the carrier said on its website. The handset is free for buyers on a two-year contract with a minimum monthly plan of 329 yuan for the 5C or 389 yuan for the 5S as the price is refunded against monthly usage, according to the website.”
“China Mobile Ltd., the nation’s largest phone company, doesn’t have a distribution agreement with Apple for the iPhone,” Bloomberg News reports. “Cupertino, California-based Apple is close to securing a deal with China Mobile and is preparing to ship iPhones to the carrier, a person with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.”
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