According to a market monitor, China Mobile only managed to sell 8,000 units of their 3G phones in the first quarter of 2009. This figure was well short of the company’s planned target of 10 million by year’s end.
EEO.com said that China Mobile will spend RMB 10 billion (about $1.5 billion) to promote the new system which, in fairness has been allocated to China Mobile by the government. No commercial company in its right senses would adapt the TD-SCDMA standard until it was more sophisticated, more bug proof, more acceptable to the user. At the moment the phones lack pizazz and the service lacks total reliability and coverage. These will all come. But first China Mobile needs a solid army of users. Who so far have been very reluctant.