Tue, December 14, 2010
China Unicom, China's second largest wireless operator, has almost concluded its negotiations with Apple Inc. on the their cooperation regarding the iPad, and China Unicom will sell iPad in the country from next month, Chinese media reported Tuesday.
ND Daily News reported that China Unicom is still in talks with Apple, but the negotiations have entered into the last phase of pricing and marketing strategies for the iPad. The report quoted a China Unicom official as saying that the operator will probably launch iPad 3G at the beginning of January 2011.
China International Capital Corporation Ltd. (CICC) said that China Unicom will continue its strategy of providing only bundled services - including contracted 3G data traffic services and iPad terminals - to customers. Non-bundled iPads will be sold at Apple Stores, and the iPad services will probably bring 3 to 5 million data service users a year.
Chinese users can currently only buy iPad 3G from overseas agents and on the black market. A iPad 3G 16G model costs the equivalent of around 4,600 yuan ($691.04), and the iPad 3G 32G model retails for between 5,999 yuan ($901.20) and 6,100 yuan ($916.38).
