Rumor: China Unicom to Launch UPhones in January
CCID, 12/23/10
China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) plans to release the first batch of operator-customized UPhones in January 2011, according to a Unicom source. The first five handsets will be provided by five manufacturers, including Huawei, ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ), Inventec, and Motorola. UPhone handsets will rank second only to iPhone handsets in terms of subsidies.
Believing that China Mobile's (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) OPhone platform failed due to its reliance on Android, Unicom has developed a completely new Linux-based operating system called UniPlus.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "China Unicom: UPhone Targets Mid & Low-End Markets" MD 11/18/10 issue.
Keywords: China Unicom Motorola wireless 000063.SZ 0763.HK Huawei ZTE UPhone UniPlus Inventec 0762.HK 600050.SH CHU operator-customized mobile OS smartphone subsidy