While China Mobile and China Telecom are promoting their own respective mobile phone applications online stores, China Unicom has also announced plans to set up a similar online store, targeting WCDMA handsets.

According to China Unicom, the company is currently cooperating with related departments to develop the platform for the app program's online store and its relevant incentive policies. The store is expected to be launched after China's National Day holiday in October.

Chang Xiaobing, chairman of China Unicom, told local media that China Unicom has its own strategy for the development of the mobile phone applications store and the entire strategy is similar with Apple's iPhone app store. The company aims to establish an open mobile phone application and software development platform.

Chang said this platform will combine the advantages of WCDMA and will be opened to all operating systems and application systems in the industry chain, instead of only being available for iPhone handsets.

China Mobile formally launched its mobile phone application online store Mobile Market in Beijing on August 17, 2009; while China Telecom's mobile phone application online store, which was jointly developed by China Telecom Sichuan and the Chinese telecom equipment provider Huawei, started public tests on September 1, 2009.