One indication of the iPhone's strong potential in China is the thriving underground iPhone market that already exists there. Though the device isn't officially available, BDA estimates there are already 1.5 million iPhones in use in China, and the handset is on sale everywhere from online vendors to resellers of Apple products in sprawling electronics malls.
People can use the iPhone and buy applications on Apple's iTunes store by unlocking the device with software that enables it to work with any network operator, even if they aren't approved by Apple.
Jessica Wu, a 26-year-old iPhone user in Nanjing, said she bought her first-generation eight-gigabyte iPhone in Nanjing in 2008 for 4,600 yuan ($675). Other high-end phones 'seemed expensive and too professional' compared with the iPhone, she said. 'The [iPhone's] icons are cute.'
'People are paying close attention [to the release of the iPhone],' said Ms. Deng, who declined to give her first name, a saleswoman at an Apple reseller in Beijing called Dragonstar. 'We've already gotten a couple of phone calls from our clients placing orders for iPhones as soon as they arrive.'
The iPhone will likely raise China Unicom's profile as it has for other iPhone operators that have seen their data revenue increase. In Europe, the iPhone has just 15% of smart-phone market share but represents 90% of the total data usage on networks, according to IDC. Ms. Meng of Merrill Lynch rated Unicom a 'buy,' saying the introduction of the iPhone and other data-intensive smart devices 'will be critical catalysts for Unicom to retain and attract mid-to-high end subscribers in highly penetrated urban markets.'
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