By Chris Chang, posted Sep 14, 2011 at 1:14 PM, 1,272 views,

iPhone 5 Pre-orders Begin At China Telecom, Officially Launching Next Month

China’s third largest carrier, China Telecom, is reportedly gearing up for the launch of the iPhone 5, and they are setting aside 1.5 billion yuan (about $234.5 million) in marketing expenses for the iPhone 5 launch. China Telecom is now training staff members, and preparing in-store advertising as it gets ready to start taking orders as soon as the end of September. What’s more, vendors from the major cell phone street market in Shenzhen is already accepting pre-orders for iPhone 5. OMG.

According to a report on Southern Metropolis Daily (a daily Chinese language newspaper), China Telecom may have an all-out marketing campaign for its iPhone 5 launch if details given by a purported corporate insider.

“China Telecom has instructed some of its provincial branches to begin preparations for the sales of the iPhone 5, including conducting staff training, and the operator will accept orders for the phone at the earliest at end September. A LED screen at the Changan Road branch of China Telecom had started advertising the forthcoming debut of the iPhone 5.

The insider added that China Telecom expects to launch pre-sales of the iPhone 5 this month, and will start official sales in October.

This sounds interesting. We could not believe a carrier in China is already accepting pre-orders for Apple’s next iPhone, while Apple has not yet announced it… Checking back the records, China Telecom has successfully reached a ‘preliminary agreement’ with Apple to carry the next-generation iPhone, so we think it’s true to hear that the carrier is lined up to begin offering the device with the launch of the iPhone 5. However, China Telecom is not the only one who is accepting pre-orders.

In Shenzhen Huaqiangbei (the major cell phone street market in the city), vendors are already accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5 in stores for a 1000 yuan ($156) deposit. According to the local media’s reports, these vendors have already accepted more than 10 orders, and there are up to 80 vendors offering the pre-order service in Huaqiangbei. What’s more, these vendors are using AatmaStudio’s iPhone 5 concept video to draw attention, and let customers to see the features of iPhone 5.

Well, looking at this video, some innocent customers will actually believe that is the iPhone 5, so they are willing to put 1000 yuan deposit down…

Lastly, China Telecom is offering special discount and service if you purchase an iPhone 4 from them. For just 2,688 yuan ($420), you can get an iPhone 4 with free jailbreak service and 2,000 yuan ($313) credit for making calls. Yes, China Telecom is advertising a jailbreak service with purchase. With online services such as Jailbreakme.com, jailbreaking has never been easier and it seems the Chinese cell carrier has realized this and has turned it into a clever marketing scheme.

You can get the flyer from branches of China Telecom in the country. So, here’s the question. Is China Telecom really launching the iPhone 5 in October?

Source:TechWeb via CapitalVue