Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-02
More and more North Koreans are using cheap smartphones bought from China, according to a June 26 report by Asia Times Online, a newspaper based in Hong Kong.
 |
| The debut of the Huawei Ascend P7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 10. (photo/Xinhua) |
More and more North Koreans are using cheap smartphones bought from China, according to a June 26 report by Asia Times Online, a newspaper based in Hong Kong.
A growing
number of shops in Chinese cities bordering North Korea specialize in selling
cheap mobile phones that can operate on the restricted telecommunication
network in North Korea.
Although
the mobile phones sold in the Chinese shops are cheap, it is very difficult to
bring them into North Korea due to the necessity of bribing border officers and
the complex registration process. Many North Koreans, consequently, are still
hesitant about getting a mobile phone, according to a source in Dandong in Liaoning
province, a border city.
The Chinese
vendors mainly target North Koreans who travel to China frequently on shopping
trips. The phones offered include various models, with a basic model selling
for US$55, foldable phones costing US$80 and touch smartphones costing up from
US$130.
Another
source in Dandong revealed that groups of businesspeople collect broken mobile
phones in North Korea and send them for repair in China because replacement
parts are too expensive in their country. Collectors of broken mobile phones
usually visit repair shops which display signs marked Pyongyang Telecom near
the customs office in Dandong.
North Korea
introduced its homemade smartphone the AS1201 Arirang last August. Since 2008,
there have been about 2 million mobile phone users in North Korea, but a
Chinese Huawei mobile phone at the price of US$150 still remains a luxury for
most North Koreans.
No comments:
Post a Comment