iPhone 5 Release Date Rumor: Company Sets Aside $230M for Marketing
The iPhone 5 is rumored to be arriving in stores in mid-October, but some companies like Germany’s Deutsche Telekon have already took the initiative and started to take pre-orders for the device.
Now, China Telecom is following in Deutsche’s footsteps by setting aside $1.5 billion yuan which is equivalent to about $234.5 million in marketing expenses for the iPhone 5 launch, according to 9to5 Mac.
The company is referring to this maneuver as a “Dragon Plan,” and local branches are already prepared for the device’s release by training employees and using in-store advertising.
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One local office already has a LED screen advertisement for the iPhone 5 on display.
China Telecom is rumored to begin taking orders for the smartphone at the end of September with official sales starting in October.
Foxconn has reportedly increased manufacturing on the iPhone 5 to output 150,000 units which should make Apple have enough to flood the market with 5-6 million next generation iPhones in September.
The report that China Telecom would be receiving the new iPhone originally came from Reuters and officials confirmed they had approached Apple with the idea of bringing a CDMA version of the smartphone to its customers.
Apple is set to start pre-orders for the iPhone 5 on September 30, according to 9to5 Mac.
China Unicom is the only company which distributes the iPhone in the country.
Apple is looking to grow its market share in the nation by making its device more available to consumers in China.
The country has a population of 1.33 billion, so the possibilities for growth are endless.
China Telecom surpassed Verizon Wireless in the first half of this year and became the world’s largest CDMA operator, with a total of 108 million subscribers.
