Unicom to cut smartphone prices by 30%

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the country's second-biggest wireless carrier, will cut the price of its cheapest smartphones by 30 percent to about 700 yuan ($110) in an effort to expand its market share as user growth slows.

China Unicom will introduce smartphones costing less than 700 yuan in China in the near future, after "great success" with models priced at less than 1,000 yuan, President Lu Yimin told the GSMA Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai on Wednesday.

"For the mass market we launched a series of promotions with 1,000-yuan smartphones" from 2010 to 2011, Lu said. "In 2012, we will continue promotion measures."