High Hopes for iPhone in China, At Least For Unicom Chairman
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 9:50AM 
When the iPhone finally made its debut in China, early reports were that things weren't going all that well. Some estimates were as low as 5,000 phones sold in the first weekend. Not a great start for the largest cell phone market in the world.
But fear not, according to Chang Xiaobing, Chairman of China Unicom, the carrier selling the iPhone in China, the future is bright. In a Bloomberg article, Chang admits the first month of sales weren't as good as they could be, but he never really outlined any strategy or reasoning for his optimism.
Considering the iPhone carries a $1,000 pricetag in China, has been stripped of wifi, and has seen an estimated one million plus grey market sales, there's not a lot to point to the iPhone as a runaway hit in China. Not yet.