Apple's iPhone 5, with its bigger screen and thinner design, doesn't seem to be wowing Chinese fans and industry professionals like the iPhone 4 did.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook announces the new iPhone 5 at a press event in San Francisco, the United States, Sept. 12, 2012. Apple on Wednesday unveiled iPhone 5, its latest generation of smartphone that features bigger display and support for faster LTE wireless network. [Photo/Xinhua]

That could be because numerous leaks about the new product have revealed that not much is new, and widely anticipated features, such as wireless charging and eyeball and gesture recognition - which exist in rival models by Nokia and Samsung - are missing. In addition, the Chinese mainland lacks a 4G network, which the iPhone 5 supports.

China is Apple's second biggest regional market by revenue, but the Chinese mainland is not on the list of the first batch of regions to sell the iPhone 5.

Sales are expected to start in Hong Kong next Friday, with a starting price of HK$5,588 (US$716) for the 16GB model.

There is no date yet for official iPhone 5 sales on the Chinese mainland but stores on Taobao, the online marketplace, are already taking orders for phones at around 5,500 yuan (US$868).

"It's just a taller iPhone 4S without innovation," said Fjptlinli on Weiphone.com, a major Apple user forum in China.

It was just one of many posts expressing disappointment at the new device. And in an online survey on Sina.com, 48.1 percent of 36,000 respondents said they would not be buying an iPhone 5, 24.6 percent would "wait and see," and just 27.3 percent said they would buy one.

Slower innovation

With the iPhone 5, Apple's pace of innovation is slower, which brings opportunities to rivals such as Samsung and Nokia as well as Chinese firms, executives of Chinese phone makers Xiaomi and Shanda said during an IT industry forum yesterday.

Apple used to be a unique piece of artwork but now it has faded into something like all the rest, Xiang Ligang, head of professional telecommunications website CCTimes.com, said.

Chinese Internet and software service providers, however, welcomed the iPhone 5's new iOS operating system with its integration of China-oriented functions.

Besides being installed in the iPhone 5, the next-generation iOS or iOS 6 update can be downloaded by all iPhone and iPad users.

Apple has added "China features" such as Baidu's search service, Sina's Weibo service and Youku Tudou's video services.

"People can now share video by iPhone and iPad quickly and easily, like overseas YouTube users," Youku Tudou, China's biggest online video sharing website, said in a statement yesterday.

Apple has dropped the price of its old models in its retail and online stores. The iPhone 4S 16GB will now cost 4,488 yuan, down 500 yuan, and the iPhone 4 8G is now 600 yuan cheaper at 3,088 yuan.