China Unicom, China’s second-largest mobile carrier, began accepting iPhone 5 pre-orders on Monday ahead of the handset’s December 14 launch. And during the first day alone, it saw more than 100,000 orders placed online. Apple devices have become hugely popular in China, and it seems the iPhone 5 will be no exception.
China Unicom didn’t request any money from customers placing pre-orders, The Next Web reports. However, it did require an ID card and other personal information. The carrier reached 100,000 pre-orders by 4 p.m. local time on Monday, December 3.
In comparison, China Telecom, which only began selling the iPhone earlier this year, received 5,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 5 on Sunday. One of the reason its figures are so low in comparison to China Unicom’s is that the carrier has been taking pre-orders for several weeks — long before Apple announced the official release date for China.
Customers can also purchase the iPhone 5 directly from Apple. The Cupertino company will be selling the device through its online store, its retail stores, and through select Apple Authorized Resellers. In an effort to prevent scalpers from snapping up the device and then selling them on on the grey market, Apple requires that the device is reserved online the day before it’s collected in-store.
Shortly after it gets the iPhone 5, China will also be seeing the iPad mini, and the fourth generation iPad. Before then, however, the device will arrive in South Korea on December 7. It will then reach an additional 50 countries throughout the month, bringing its total reach to 97 markets by 2013.
Source: The Next Web
