Apple Inc to sell new iPhones in China

BEIJING - Apple Inc will start selling two new iPhone models in the Chinese mainland as of Sept 20, the first time the region has been included in the company's maiden launch list.

The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C will be available to buy in the world's largest mobile market on Sept 20, when the two models will also be on sale in the United States, Australia and Japan, according to a company press conference held on Wednesday in Beijing.

The retail price of the iPhone 5C in China will be 4,488 yuan ($728), while the iPhone 5S will cost 5,288 yuan. Both the prices are much higher than their peers in markets outside the Chinese mainland.

Apple fans said the simultaneous maiden launch in China's mainland together with other major markets shows the company's sincerity towards Chinese customers. But some have been left disappointed.

A white-collar female worker surnamed Chen who works at Zhongguancun, or China's "Silicon Valley," said, "Apple Inc has finally attached importance to Chinese customers by including China into the first launch markets, although the prices are a little high."

"There was no surprise at all. We miss the era of Steve Jobs," said Zheng Xiyun, a marketing director with the interactive group IM2.0.

However, Wu Shu, an IT expert and chief editor of iheima, an online platform to encourage creativity, said Apple has developed a complete integrated system. "If it makes major changes, such as enlarging the screen size, it will cause trouble for the application developers."

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