China Unicom net falls short of estimates on low end focus
26 Oct 2012
China's second-largest mobile-phone company, China Unicom, has posted third-quarter profits that have failed to match analysts' expectations.
Net income was up 27 per cent to 2.02 billion yuan from 1.59 billion yuan a year earlier, based on figures derived from nine-month earnings according to the Beijing- based company.
Chairman Chang Xiaobing focused on low-cost smartphones priced at 1,000 yuan or less, after losing the advantage of being the only Chinese carrier to offer Apple Inc's iPhone with a service plan.
But subscribers owning cheaper phones are not heavy data users, say analysts and the company missed estimates due largely to higher selling, marketing and administrative costs.
Revenue was up 16 per cent to 63.5 billion yuan in the third quarter.
Unicom's American depository receipts declined 2.7 per cent to $16.82 in New York trading yesterday.
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