A recent survey of 2,000 mobile users in China between the ages of 22 and 32 by China Market Research Group, or CMR, suggests that the cause of the iPhone’s performance in China may stem from the relative unpopularity of Apple’s partner, China Unicom, among its target users, as well as a lack of desire among those users to sign up for two-year contracts and subscribe to 3G services, reports the “Wall Street Journal” (http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/05/20/why-iphone-hasn’t-sold-well-in-china/?mod=rss_whats_news_technology).
CMR found that while users really wanted the iPhone, less than 10% of respondents use China Unicom, and of those respondents, a majority said they were unhappy with the company’s service. In comparison, 95% of respondents said they felt competitor China Mobile was more stable and had better coverage when traveling around the country. CMR also found that 80% of respondents used prepaid mobile services rather than monthly subscription-based services, and had no plans to switch within the next three years, notes the “WSJ.”