The success and sales numbers of the brandnew iPhone 5 still remains to be seen. The US tech giant has announced it will land the latest version in the Chinese mainland market on December 14th, adding to the festive spirits of many Chinese Apple fans. Two of China's largest telecom operators will offer attractive pre-sale reservation choices to lure customers.

Apple's newest handset will launch on the mainland Friday in a week. Two of the country's biggest providers, China Telecom and China Unicom, have been locked in a fierce competition to be the first to sell the iPhone5 in the country.

On Sunday already, China Telecom started to take orders. Enthusiasm was in the air.

A Guangdong resident said, "I am a big fan of the iPhone 5. I only need to put down 100 yuan to pre-order it and pay 5780 yuan after my reservation is processed."

China Unicom swiftly followed suit. Pre-orders for the device have already exceeded 100,000 on the first day of pre-sales.

A salesperson said, "Customers are required to show their ID cards and their personal details to reserve an iPhone5. They should pay 100 yuan and later will get a rebate of 500 yuan."

China Telecom's iPhone5 with a contract will cost 5780 yuan, or 100 yuan cheaper than China's Unicom's price. Industry insiders say the strong rivalry shows the operators are keen to seek a higher share in the 3G market through Apple's smart phones.

The two networks both saw more than three million new 3G subscribers in October.