(Yicai Global) Sept.11 -- A branch of Chinese electrical appliance retailer Gome Retail Holdings Ltd. [HK:0493], located in the city of Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province, has started a shared smartphone business enabling rentals of popular handsets, reported online news outlet Yunnan Online.

The cost to rent Apple Inc.'s [NASDAQ:AAPL] flagship iPhone 7 is CNY4000 (USD610) a year.

The store can also lease a variety of other mobile phones, such as the iPhone7Plus, Huawei Technologies Co.'s P10, Samsung Electronics Co.'s [KS:005930] Galaxy S8 Plus and Vivo Communication Technology Co.'s X9.

Gome will pinpoint the upcoming new iPhone model as its main mobile phone for the shared lease business.

Services users are subject to stringent credit checks and only one person has qualified for the service since its inception.

The shared mobile phones have a basic contract period of one year. The annual rate for a 32-gigabyte iPhone 7 is USD609 (CNY3960), just USD108 (CNY700) lower than the price of a new handset.

The service is a good choice for consumers unable to pay the full-amount price of an iPhone on a lump-sum basis. Renewal of the service will be possible after the one-year lease expires, through specific details are yet to be revealed.