Apple has recently struck a deal with China Mobile, the biggest network operator in China and the world. As a result, the Cupertino firm was expected to make a killing selling iPhones in China. It looks like, however, that the Apple iPhone 5S and the Apple iPhone are off to a slow start, as analysts are saying that China Mobile has only accepted 100,000 units of both handsets in the first two days of availability.
AllThingsD reports, “Wedge Partners figures China Mobile accepted about 100,000 preorders for the iPhone 5s and 5c during the first two days of availability.
“Interestingly, that’s fewer than rival carriers managed when the devices first launched a few months back. In September, China Unicom racked up about 120,000 preorders and China Telecom about 150,000 for the 5s and 5c both.
“How is it that China Mobile, which currently provides cell service to over 763 million customers, is pulling in fewer iPhone preorders than its smaller rivals? One thing to keep in mind: It’s still early and this is only a single estimate. Another: The 5s and 5c are two months old now, and China Mobile isn’t doing much to differentiate them on its network. According to Wedge, its subsidies are similar to China Telecom’s and slightly higher than China Unicom’s.”
Speaking to the site, Wedge analyst Brian Blair said, “What’s important to remember is these phones launched in September. Now here we are several months later and there’s no subsidy being offered that’s so special that the preorders are off the charts. If this had been in September when the phone launched globally, I think the numbers would be a lot higher.”
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