On Oct. 30th, China Unicom launched the official Chinese debut of Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Beijing. The world-famous smart phone brand has officially landed on the most populous country in the world. China Unicom, the second-largest state-owned mobile telco, threw a debut party to kick-off its sale in Chinese market.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Unicom iPhone got a rather half-hearted welcome. The launch party did draw a large crowd, but it was far from the “sellout” receptions that have taken place in other countries. Media in China and abroad have not been optimistic about the potential sales of the iPhone in China. This could be a result of the large number of fake or illegal iPhones already on the market, or the relatively high price of the product.

Despite the lukewarm response of the public, China Unicom has successfully raised its brand awareness through the deal with Apple. Since its announcement to cooperate with Apple, China Unicom has become the centre of public attention. The mass media coverage of the agreement between the two companies and Unicom’s 3G service has greatly increased its brand exposure.

It could be that for China Unicom, the purpose of the deal is to build its brand image rather than sell iPhones. Now that the 3 major telecom operators in China are competing for China’s 3G market, Unicom’s deal with Apple has definitely caught the eye of consumers and put the brand on a new level.

To conclude, what’s more important for Unicom at this moment is to build its brand with Chinese consumers? Based on the successful publicity of iPhone’s launch, by carefully enhancing its brand image and awareness and carrying out its brand strategy to add brand value, Unicom might overcome CMCC and get on top of China’s 3G market.