Apple's iPhone SE already received more than 3.4 million pre-orders from Chinese retailers before its official release date, according to 9To5Mac.

The smartphone's gold variety seemed to be the people's favorite in China with 1.3 million pre-orders followed closely by the rose gold color at 1.2 million.  

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These numbers were gathered from big online retailers within the company however, it's not a guarantee 3.4 million iPhone SE will be released on March 31.

Pre-orders in China doesn't mean that retailers are accepting down payment for the device. It is seen as a reservation before its release date without any financial involvement.

The report added that one of Apple's reasons to accept pre-orders was to reduce and avoid long lines outside retail stores.

"Initial interest for the iPhone SE is lukewarm," said Neil Shah, research director of Counterpoint Research. 

He added that the company expects the smartphone to cover "less than 10 percent of the total iPhone sales in China this year."

Still, reports said that it's too early to define the smartphone's popularity in China. In comparison, TalkingData's study showed that Xiaomi's Mi5 pre-order sale reached more than 16 million earlier this month while Apple's 6S and 6S Plus sold about 7.2 million units in two weeks time.

China is one of the countries that Apple wants to launch their new product along with Brazil, Russia, and India. The company hopes to attract new customers with their cheapest smartphones and persuade them to switch from Android phones of the same price range, Apple Insider reported.

The four-inches Apple iPhone SE is equipped with an A9 processor, NFC technology for Apple Pay, a 12-megapixel camera and overall similar specifications with iPhone 6S except for the 3D touch capability.

The upcoming handset's price range starts at $399 for 16GB and $499 for 64GB that comes in silver, gold, space gray and rose gold, which will soon be available in 47 countries.

Tagsapple, iPhone, Apple iPhone SE, china, iPhone Pre-order, Chinese Retailers, iPhone 6S, iphone se specification