China Telecom Courts iPhone Buyers Ahead of China Mobile Launch

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The highly anticipated China Mobile launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is just 10 days away, and the local competition is already preparing itself: China Telecom has cut contract prices for Apple’s latest iPhones by about 15%, Bloomberg reports.

Apple sells the entry level iPhone 5s for 5,288 yuan. Now, Chinese iPhone buyers can get about $132 off the selling price as a combination of price cuts and gift packages if they turn to China Telecom for an iPhone and sign a contract with the country’s third-largest carrier.

However, they need to choose a service plan that costs 189 yuan per month, and they can get an entry-level iPhone 5s for 4,888 yuan (400 yuan off the original price), and an iPhone case and an external battery valued at 400 yuan by the carrier.

The marketing push comes ahead of the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c by the world’s biggest wireless carrier, China Mobile, which will start selling the devices on January 17, but there is no pricing info available yet.

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