Katie Marsal
Customers can pay as little as 286 yuan, or $45 U.S. per month, for the plan to get a free iPhone 4S, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The promotion will begin Friday, Jan. 13, which is the day the iPhone 4S will go on sale in mainland China and 21 other countries.
China Unicom subscribers can get a free 32-gigabyte iPhone 4S with a three-year service contract. And the 16GB model is available free for those who agree to a two-year contract.
The iPhone has already proven to be costly for China Unicom, as the carrier saw its 3G-related cost increase nearly fourfold in the first half of 2011. Some analysts believe the carrier's heavy iPhone 4S subsidy will only accelerate those costs.
China Unicom's 3G business has been a money-losing operation for the carrier through the first six months of 2011. Subsidies of smartphones reportedly accounted for 45 percent of the 3G service costs.
The subsidies being offered by China Unicom are much more aggressive than other carriers across the world. For example, in the U.S., customers on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon can get a 16GB iPhone 4S for $199 with a new two-year plan, while the 32GB model is $299 and 64GB is $399.
Customers in the U.S. and some other countries to have an option for a free handset in the form of the iPhone 3GS, which was first released in 2009. That promotion started with the release of the iPhone 4S in October.
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40 Comments
Oh gawd... some tool is going to post that Apple has hit the bottom of the barrel because it has to give its phones away in China.
In Canada on a minimum $55 plan for 3 years, you can get a 16 GB 4S for $159 plus a $35 activation fee on the Rogers network with a hardware upgrade on an existing plan.
What do they get with that $45 plan?
Oh gawd... some tool is going to post that Apple has hit the bottom of the barrel because it has to give its phones away in China.
My question would be why are they doing that?.
You can get an iPhone 4S 16GB free for around £45 per month (2 year contract)
with the minutes ranging from 1200 (O2/Orange/T-Mobile) to around 3000 (Tesco)
£45 = $69 (but remember UK as 20% VAT, so before VAT it's $57.80)
[additional information]
Sim Free (ie if you purchased the phone) you would pay £26 for the same minutes from O2/Orange/T-Mobile (and could get more minutes from some other suppliers), For example Tesco and Giff Gaff both use the O2 network but offer better minutes/data
for a 2 year contract the difference between Supplied and Sim Free can be £450, given apple sell the phone for £499, the subsidy is on the order of £50 over 2 years (which the carriers probably make back because of other limitations on tarrifs)
For reference Giff Gaff will give 1500 minutes for £25, which means the difference is £480 and you get more minutes (and no contract)
To Clarify, just using O2/T-Mobile/Orange/Vodafone (on contract) against Giff Gaff (no contract) as an example
on contract 24 months x £45 = £1080 (no handset cost)
no contract 24 months x £25 = £600 + £499 handset = £1099 (but no contract and more minutes)
You can get an iPhone 4S 16GB free for around £45 per month (2 year contract)
with the minutes ranging from 1200 (O2/Orange/T-Mobile) to around 3000 (Tesco)
£45 = $69 (but remember UK as 20% VAT, so before VAT it's $57.80)
Thanks, didn't know that. So the China Telecom "free iPhone 4S deal" isn't all that unique then.