In China, there is currently a shortage of iPhone 4s. China Unicom, the mobile carrier of the Apple iPhone 4 in China, has announced that it sold out all of the 100,000 iPhone 4s within four days of its release. China Unicom had previously reported that 200,000 people had pre-ordered the iPhone 4, but stopped online reservations and only allows users to pre-order by going directly to the retail stores. The iPhone 4 sold out much quicker compared to the launch of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in China. It took more than a month for China Unicom to sell 100,000 of the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS when they were first launched compared to the four days it took for the iPhone 4 to sell out 100,000 units. Apple has said that more iPhone 4s will be expected to arrive on October 1. China Unicom is offering customers who sign up for the 16GB iPhone 4 with a 2-year contract and a 286 RMB monthly plan will get the iPhone 4 free of charge. The deal is so striking that it is said to be the cause for the huge demand for the iPhone 4.
The iPhone 4 is very popular in China. People in China are choosing smartphones above typical phones with fewer features. There is such high demand for the iPhone 4 because of the media attention. I think that the iPhone 4 is going to be very successful in China, especially when the deal is so attractive to the people in China. People will jump at the chance to get a free iPhone 4 with a 2-year contract and monthly plan. Apple needs to ship more iPhone 4s to China while the demand is high. China Unicom is waiting for the next shipment and is advising customers to check back often to see if the iPhone 4 is available yet. Would you buy one?