In a sign of the iPhone’s power to attract, China Unicom Friday said it expects to have 10 percent of the nation’s 3G users by 2012. The comments by an unnamed executive of the country’s second-largest wireless carrier to China Daily echo those made publicly earlier this week.
China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing told reporters recently he expects the iPhone will be the best-selling smartphone in the country. China Unicom sales of iPhones coincided with the introduction of the carrier’s 3G network. Although much was made of China Unicom adding only 5,000 when the iPhone launched in late October, the carrier said the iconic smartphone boosted 3G subscribers to over 1 million in just one month.
By contrast, when China Mobile, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, launched its homegrown version of 3G – TD-SCDMA – in January, it took seven months before the carrier passed the 1 million 3G subscriber mark. China Mobile now says it has 2.3 million 3G subscribers.
Reports have detailed reasons for the slow uptake of the iPhone, including the lack of Wi-Fi technology in models first manufactured. However, at the moment, China Unicom has the upper hand in terms of 3G coverage. The carrier, although having fewer overall subscribers (141 million versus 475 for China Mobile), offers 3G coverage for 285 Chinese cities, compared to 38 cities China Mobile reported in July.
Another factor possibly for China Unicom’s optimistic forecast: the carrier expects to begin selling iPhones with Wi-Fi by year’s end.
[Via AppleInsider and PCWorld
