Apple iPhone 4 demand outpaces supply in China

The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4 in China was apparently very successful. More than 1,000 individuals reportedly lined up outside of the Xidan Joy City Apple Store in Beijing, China, some of which began lining up a couple of days ago.

The iPhone 4 apparently saw more demand than its iPad counterpart, which launched last weekend in China with little fanfare. While Apple itself has not provided any official figures, China’s official iPhone 4 carrier China Unicom has indicated that more than 50,000 orders were placed in the first day alone of the pre-sale. In comparison, only 5,000 iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS units were pre-ordered last year when the devices were launched in the country. Overall, China Unicom received over 200,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders. The Chinese carrier is already having a difficult time keeping up with demand. The new iPhone version 4 has 16 GB of capacity and costs about $ 739 in China, the cost of the 32 GB equipment is $ 887. Prices in China are far from the U.S., where one sells for $ 199 (16 GB) and the other for $ 299 (32 GB).

Thus far, iPhone 4 units have been made available in China through the gray market. However, these devices include many disadvantages. For instance, they’re more expensive, no warranty of any kind is offered, and more importantly, they’re not specifically customized for the Chinese market.

Apple Stores in Beijing

The Village at Sanlitun
Building 6, No. 19, Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
(8610) 6419-8900

Joy City Xidan
131 North Xidan Avenue,Xicheng District, Beijing

Apple stores in Shanghai

Apple Store, Pudong
No.8 Century Avenue IFC Mall, Shop LG2-27, Lujiazui, Pudong District, Shanghai
(8621) 6084 6800

Hong Kong Plaza
282 Huaihai Zhong Road, Shanghai