Beijing. March 25. INTERFAX-CHINA - China Unicom should publicly deny rumors that it is committed to introducing the iPhone to China on May 17 if its negotiating position with Apple is not to be weakened, an industry expert said in a recent interview.
Xiang Ligang, CEO of domestic telecom news portal Cctime.com and guest columnist for Interfax, told Chinese magazine PC Home that he is concerned over the widespread rumor that China Unicom is, for reasons of prestige, determined to strike a deal with Apple in time to allow it to release the iPhone in China by May 17. He said that if true, the rumors reveal China Unicom's bottom line in the negotiations, vastly strengthening Apple's hand.
Xiang continued by saying that the high degree of media interest surrounding the introduction of the iPhone to China may be being fanned by Apple, as it puts more pressure on operators to secure an iPhone deal. However, he said that media interest and Apple's marketing initiatives may be blinding China Unicom to consumer apathy towards the iPhone, and that the operator should not take account of the "propaganda."
"Both domestic and foreign media are showing great enthusiasm over the iPhone's entry to China, which could give the wrong impression that there are huge numbers of Chinese consumers keen to get their hands on the phone," Xiang said. "This could lead China Unicom to pay a huge amount of money to Apple. However, the iPhone is more a symbol of catering to the high-end market, and will not bring China Unicom more users."
"China Unicom should make a sober assessment of how much it needs the iPhone, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the global handset market and less than 20 percent of the United States' smartphone market," Xiang said.
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