[科技前沿]中国大陆用户如何“抢鲜”体验iPhone_科技

[科技前沿]中国大陆用户如何“抢鲜”体验iPhone

Apple Readies IPhone For China Launch

IPhone's Been A Long Time Comin' In China. Some Consumers Couldn't Wait

Even as Apple (AAPL) gears up to officially launch the iPhone in China, as many as 1.5 million consumers in China have already managed to get their hands on one through various unofficial channels. Below, the main methods for buying an iPhone (or something resembling one) in China now.

Gray Market

A Beijing Internet company employee - who asks that only his surname, Shang, be used - bought his first-generation iPhone at mobile-phone market in the capital's famed Zhongguancun electronics shopping district, just a few months after its June 2007 release in the U.S. He paid 5,500 yuan, or about $800, for the privilege of being one of China's earliest iPhone adopters.

'I was very much interested in its large touch-screen design. At the same time, it also serves as a multimedia player and game machine. I was attracted by all these functions,' he says. An Apple lover, Shang counts many of the company's products among his gadgets: MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iPod Classic and iPod Nano.

Shang divides iPhone users into two groups: Those simply fascinated by its unique design; and those with a thorough understanding of Apple products and the Mac operating system. 'I purchase applications in App Store and download the de-coded ones from the Web as well,' Shang says. 'I also use Mobile Me service, which is a good combination with iPhone.'