Following last month’s official launch of the iPhone on China Unicom, China’s most popular online retailer is reporting much lower than expected sales of official iPhone units in China. Taobao.com, the largest Chinese e-commerce web site reports that it has sold only two 8GB iPhones and three 16GB iPhones since it began selling them on Nov 22nd.
Although China Unicom is also selling the iPhone directly, Taobao is considered to be China’s top online retail site for buyers of electronic devices. To comply with local regulations, iPhones sold by China Unicom do not include Wi-Fi capabilities and sell for a higher price than fully-capable iPhone models that have long been available through unofficial sources: A 32GB iPhone 3GS from China Unicom costs 6,999 yuan (US$1,024) without a contract compared to about US$800 in Hong Kong, making it difficult for official China Unicom iPhone models to compete.
(via PC World).
.
