The Chinese provider China Unicom, provider of the iPhone in China, has signed on about one million new customers since the release of the iPhone in China on October 30th of this year. In case you thought they owe this to the iPhone, you are mistaken. As it happens, there were only 5000 iPhones sold during that same period.
One reason for the disappointing take off of the iPhone in China may be the cost. The cost of the iPhone 3GS is higher than in most other countries. In addition, iPhones are available at a smaller expense to the consumer on the underground market. On top of all that there is the fact that the Chinese goverment has restricted the iPhone's wi-fi ability, altough these regulations may be changed in the coming months. China Unicom hopes to sell wi-fi capable iPhones in the near future.
Despite the disappointing sales of the iPhone in China, analyst Gene Munster believes there is reason to be optimistic. Munster admits the iPhone experienced a weak launch in China, but points out that AT&T in the United States also sold a disappointing 146,000 iPhones in the first two days after the launch of the first iPhone. He expects that the sales of the Chinese iPhone will increase when the price goes down a bit, and sticks with his prediction that in this quarter the 9.2 million iPhones will be sold worldwide.
Analyst Ben Reitzes also keeps a positive outlook. He expects that the iPhone will become more popular in China when more providers start offering the device, and he points out that there were many enthousiastic buyers the first day the iPhone became available in China.
The iPhone's launch in China may just be harder than expected
President Obama announces that he has appointed Thom Mayne to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
President Obama appointed 25 individuals to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. President Obama said, “I am confident that these talented individuals will be valued additions to our administration and will offer wise counsel in their respective roles. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.” One of these individuals is architect Thom Mayne, the man behind the Cooper Union's new academic building in New York City. You can see the academic building as well as more of his work here.
Deer Still Shun Iron Curtain Border, 20 Years After the Guards and Barbed Wire Vanished
By CECILIE ROHWEDDER
GRAFENAU, Germany -- It has been 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell. But deep in the forest here, a red deer called Ahornia still refuses to cross the old Iron Curtain.
Ahornia inhabits the thickly wooded mountains along what once was the fortified border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia. At the height of the Cold War, a high electric fence, barbed wire and machine-gun-carrying guards cut off Eastern Europe from the Western world. The barriers severed the herds of deer on the two sides as well.
The fence is long gone, and the no-man's land where it stood now is part of Europe's biggest nature preserve. The once-deadly border area is alive with songbirds nesting in crumbling watchtowers, foxes hiding in weedy fortifications and animals not seen here for years, such as elk and lynx.
But one species is boycotting the reunified animal kingdom: red deer. Herds of them roam both sides of the old NATO-Warsaw Pact border here but mysteriously turn around when they approach it.
Ellen Auto-Tuning with T-Pain!
More Articles...
Page 1 of 2
