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Dec. 12, 2009

According to fresh new numbers released by China Unicom, overall Chinese sales of Apple's iPhone appear to have picked up but still remain well behind other markets.

The wireless carrier said it has sold more than 100,000 iPhones since the device hit shelves at the end of October.

That's up from the paltry 5,000 smartphones it sold over the first four days after the launch, but still very small compared to sales of the iPhone in the U.S.

Additionally, overall sales of the iPhone in China are hampered by the device's extremely high price, which is pegged at between $730 and an astounding $1,020.

The availability of Wi-Fi-enabled "gray market" devices also appears to have an impact on mainstream sales.

There are an estimated 2 million gray market devices in China, and its government asked that initial iPhones sold by China Unicom not have Wi-Fi. China Unicom has complied.

Why the price of the iPhone in China is so high is still unknown. A phone message left at China Unicom was still not answered as of late yesterday.

When the iPhone first launched in the U.S. market in July 2008, Apple sold 270,000 units in the first 30 hours.

China Unicom is China's second-largest wireless carrier with a subscriber base of about 140.1 million.

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Source: China Unicom.