iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Start at China Unicom, 100,000 Reserved on First Day

Apple’s iPhone 5 has yet to make it to China, though Tim Cook has promised that the device will arrive in the Mainland by the end of the year.

Today, the folks at Sina Tech report that China Unicom, the country’s second largest telecom carrier has announced that it has received 100,000 pre-orders for iPhone 5 on the first day.

China Unicom began taking iPhone 5 pre-orders on December 3 and confirmed that the smartphone would hit shelves on December 14.

Furthermore, China Telecom has yet to officially kick off pre-orders for the iPhone 5, though Beijing Telecom, China Telecom's Beijing subsidiary, has announced that it has already received orders for 5,000 iPhone 5 units, Sohu IT reports.

When it comes to Apple’s iPhone, China Telecom has the upper hand for the moment, as the carrier began offering the iPhone 4S earlier this year.

In the same piece of news, Apple plans to release the iPad mini in China ahead of iPhone 5. The tablet is expected to arrive in the country this Friday, thus increasing the number of new Apple products launched in China.

Surprisingly, China’s largest carrier, China Mobile has yet to announce plans to offer the iPhone 5, though the operator has reported that it currently has more than 15 million iPhone users on its network.

Back to Apple's iPhone 5, it appears that all that customers need in order to pre-order their iPhone 5 device is an ID card and a phone number where they have to call to reserve their device.

China Unicom has made it simpler for Apple fans to pre-order the iPhone 5 by not asking any reservation fee.

However, this works both ways as some customers might change their mind until December 14, when the iPhone 5 has been confirmed to arrive at China Unicom. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.