China Unicom, Apple’s first pick to break into the world’s largest cell phone market, is leaning away from the iPhone, according to new phone orders. The carrier said the iPhone will comprise just 4 percent of phones it plans to order. Instead, a mix of Symbian, Windows Mobile and BREW-based handsets are getting the majority of interest.
Phones based on the Symbian OS received 16 percent of the orders, with 8 percent going to Windows Mobile handsets, 4 percent to the iPhone and the remainder to phones using BREW or a proprietary operating system. More than half (63 percent) of the new phones are mid-priced (below $439), according to reports.
Zhang Zhijiang, China Unicom’s general manager made the comments at the 2010 Communications Industry Technology Annual Conference in Beijing.
The sales point to China consumers being more comfortable with Windows Mobile or Symbian-based handsets. Unlike the iPhone, the mobile phones use styluses which work with Chinese handwriting. Often sold unlocked and able to use with prepaid accounts also works in their favor.
China Unicom, which recently passed the 100,000 unit selling mark has experienced a rough go at selling the iPhone. The carrier, second to China Mobile, fought early negative publicity for initially selling just 5,000 Apple handsets, then confronted the nearly 2 million “gray market” iPhones that already flooded China. The lack of Wi-Fi has also hindered the iPhone in China. Forbes recently published the “top 10 mistakes Apple made in China,” outlining multiple missteps by Cupertino.
In a near mirror image of China, Apple’s iPhone has received overwhelming success elsewhere in Asia, including Japan and South Korea. In Japan, the iPhone has 46 percent of the market. That comes after a slow start in Japan, a lesson some thought could also apply to China. In another gadget-crazed nation, South Korea, the iPhone was a hot seller even before any devices were available, carrier KT receiving 53,000 advance orders.
[Via Boy Genius Report, 9to5Mac]
