Demand for the iPhone 5 in China has reached more than 300,000 online
reservations with mobile carrier China Unicom, as Apple prepares to
starting selling the device there on Friday.
Past
iPhone launches in China—like the 2011 debut of the white iPhone 4—have
brought out the crowds to Apple Stores in that country.
China Unicom received the 300,000 requests in the first week after it began accepting online reservations, it said on its official microblog
on the Sina Weibo service. It also provided a breakdown of where the
iPhone reservations are coming from in the country. The top place of
origin is Beijing, followed by two of China’s largest provinces
Guangdong and Shandong, and then the city of Shanghai.
74 percent of the reservations are coming from males, while only 26
percent are from females. China Unicom speculates the reason is because
some men are buying the handset to give to their girlfriends.
52 percent of the reservations are from those aged 20 to 30 years old.
Another 34 percent are from those aged 30 to 40 years. In addition, the
vast majority of the reservations, at 85 percent, want the 16 GB model.
China Unicom is one of two mobile carriers in the country that will be
selling the device, and has about 232 million mobile subscribers.
Previously, the carrier has struggled to meet demand for Apple’s iPhone
launches in the country.
During the iPhone 4 launch in 2010, the carrier had to abruptly stop
online reservations for the device after receiving 200,000 pre-orders.
Problems with online sales also occurred this January with the iPhone 4S
launch when a surge in web traffic on China Unicom’s ordering site
prevented many users from buying the product.
Analysts expect demand for the iPhone 5 in China will likely be high, and could even outperform sales
of Apple’s previous iPhone models. A slowdown in iPhone 4S shipments in
the second and third quarter suggests many consumers in China are
waiting for the iPhone 5.
Australian police are warning people not to rely on Apple’s new mobile
mapping application after several motorists ended up in a semi-arid
national park where temperatures can reach 115F (46C) and there is no
water supply.
Australian
police are warning people not to rely on Apple's new mobile mapping
application after several motorists trying to find Mildura, Victoria,
(denoted by the purple pin) ended up in a semi-arid national park
(denoted by the red pin).
Police in the town of Mildura, which is the Australian state of Victoria, issued a news release on Monday saying they’ve responded to several drivers who became stranded in Murray Sunset National Park.
Apple’s Maps application, introduced in iOS 6, shows Mildura near part
of the park when it is actually located about 44 miles (70 km) to the
northeast, according to police. Some motorists have been stranded for a
day without food or water, walking long distances through dangerous
terrain to get phone reception, police said.
Police, who called the problem a “potentially life-threatening issue,”
said they have contacted Apple and advised that people use other mapping
programs until Apple’s program is fixed.
Apple replaced Google’s mapping application, which it had shipped with
iPhones through the 4S model, with the company’s own application in iOS
6, which was released on Sept. 19. Users have complained that Apple Maps
wasn’t accurate and contained errors.
Apple on Monday referred to CEO Tim Cook’s apology on Oct. 26 in which he said the company was “extremely sorry” for bungling Maps. Cook said the application would improve with time as users reported problems. Until then, he advised users could use Microsoft’s Bing, Google Maps, Nokia’s Here, or Waze’s third-party app.
