China Unicom's high pricing strategy for Apple Inc's smartphone seems to have paid off at least for now after the company reported better-than-estimated iPhone sales yesterday.

Industry analysts are, however, skeptical on whether the gamble would pay off in the long run as they expect sales to taper after the initial enthusiasm wanes.

To date, China Unicom has sold nearly 100,000 iPhones after it was officially launched in China on Oct 30.