2010 Jun 30 iPhone 4 and iPad to Hit China in September?
It didn’t take long for the iPhone 4, released last Thursday in many countries around the world, to hit China’s grey market. The phone has slowly trickled into the country, and a limited number of units are available for purchase at Zhongguancun, although you’ll pay a hefty premium. But if you’re looking to buy a “legitimate” one, you might want to wait and save some money. According to the Wall Street Journal, China Unicom is in talks with Apple to launch the new flagship phone and the iPad as early as September.
A China Daily article states that Apple itself has not released any information regarding the iPhone 4’s release in China, but China Unicom did acknowledge that they were in discussions. They are also hoping to be able to release the iPhone 4 with Wi-Fi capability this time around. Beijingers may recall the iPhone 3 was released without Wi-Fi capability in China and faced lackluster sales due to a grey market selling imported phones. As for the iPad, the news conflicts with earlier rumors that the gadget would be released in August.
Prices for the iPhone 4 on the grey market range from RMB 9,400 to 13,000 depending on the capacity of the phone and WiFi capability. The phone is retailing in the United States for USD 199 (around RMB 1360) for the 16GB version and USD 299 (RMB 2050) for the 32GB.
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HuanChu
Re: iPhone 4 and iPad to Hit China in September?
13,000?? Wtf??
I think I'll get the IPad first, but even when the Iphone 4 reaches us, I don't want to have to change carriers just to use it.
Apple maybe design geniuses, but they still suck donkeh 求 when it comes to actual usage.
A very smart man wrote:
WJHeathershaw
Re: iPhone 4 and iPad to Hit China in September?
If you haven't gotten your iPad yet, it may be your best bet to access one through Dong-Xi.com.
Pay for the iPad directly on Apple.com, send it to Dong-Xi.com's US warehouse, and D-X forwards to your Beijing address.
No US credit card? No problem. Use D-X's and pay through three convenient methods.
Questions? info@dong-xi.com
Access iPad's or anything else from American websites now at www.dong-xi.com
William James Heathershaw
Founder
ShopWeShip.com
HuanChu
Re: iPhone 4 and iPad to Hit China in September?
Hmmmmmmmm.
Forgive my asking here, but it's quicker.
64G Wifi+3G is $869 from Apple. So what would be the total cost, in RMB, to get it to me, here in Beijing?
And I guess you can't get the IPhone 4, right?
A very smart man wrote:
everdown
Re: iPhone 4 and iPad to Hit China in September?
I have a problem with this article. The iPhone doesn't retail for $199/$299, it retails for that price WITH a 2 year contract, and it's locked to the carrier (which creates mafan when you want to travel abroad and don't want to pay $2+ a minute). Yes you can unlock, but it's easy for most people to do that and it's easy to break it (the unlock).
I don't know how many Chinese people have read these articles and asked me to bring one back for them because it is so cheap in the US. If you want one off contract, you're going to pay $699+ like everyone else... That's the price you should list, or add in the ~$100 month contract @ 24 months.