China Unicom iPhone: Release Date and Price

China Unicom has finally announced the release date and its price for the Apple iPhone. The Smartphone will makes its debut in China on October 1 and will cost 5,000 Yuan ($732.50), much higher than any of us expected. The company hopes to build up its 3G service, and the iPhone is the perfect platform to do so.

Engadget have learned from Yahoo Tech that Unicom may have set the price of the handset so how for one reason, and that is to force customers in to long contracts. The longer the contract, the cheaper the handset will become.

There is to be eight service contracts for the iPhone with China Unicom, this starts at 126 Yuan all the way up to 886 Yuan per month. The network carrier said that they would offer discounts on the handsets dependant on what length of service plan is taken out, this ranges from 893 Yuan to 4,253 Yuan.