iPhone Launch in China: Little Buzz, No WiFi

11:08 am, October 30th, 2009, Nicole Martinelli

The official iPhone launch in China was greeted with shorter lines than expected due to lousy weather and because about a million early adopters have already bought them on the gray market.

People did stand in line, just not super long ones — check out the empty red ropes — and a persistent drizzle certainly didn’t entice buyers to be the first to get their hands on an official iPhone.

Also contributing to a less than hysterical welcome were the fact that the official market 8G iPhone has no wi-fi (a bow to the country’s regulatory demands) and costs about $730 dollars without a service contract.
From there, prices levitate to a heady $1,024 for the iPhone 3GS.
Gray market versions, found in many electronic marts, cost about 20% less, with wi-fi.

China Unicom has said any handset that supports its 3G mobile standard will be able to use its network, so gray-market iPhone users can buy service contracts just like users of the official handset. The carrier refused to provide info on how many customers had reserved iPhones.

Via MacWorld

Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S | Comment on this article

If you enjoyed this article:
Subscribe via RSS or email, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter

About the author

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. Since 1999, she's been tapping away at zoomata. You can also find her on Facebook, Linked in and Twitter.

Email the author | Read more posts by Nicole Martinelli.

5 comments

Kinda sad when you consider the fact that this is the country that MAKES most of Apple’s hardware.

Jake, on October 31st, 2009 at 2:54 am

thanks for posting this Nicole. the lines were not as long as expected but it’s a good beginning

saman Jebeli-Javan, on October 31st, 2009 at 6:42 am

Why buy it at the store if you can get one stolen from the factory for half price, or less.

Alex, on October 31st, 2009 at 11:14 am

isn’t that expensive??.

haniph, on October 31st, 2009 at 1:07 pm

Apple keeps droping bombs on buyers pockets, same goes for those who bought iPhone on hands and apple keeps locking up phone with updates, this is ridiculous, I want the phone because I like it, but I will all support crackers even if I won’t need it. By that letting Apple and any government know that no one will control what do I use or for what. Dear Apple and whoever …..hack you!

Joe, on November 23rd, 2009 at 3:17 am