“Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook and China Mobile Ltd. Chairman Xi Guohua discussed cooperation at a meeting Thursday, raising hopes that the world’s largest mobile carrier would soon begin offering iPhones to its millions of subscribers,” Lorraine Luk reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“China Mobile confirmed the meeting took place at the company’s Beijing headquarters during Cook’s visit to China, the Apple chief’s second trip to the country in less than year,” Luk reports. “But it declined to disclose details of the discussions, citing a confidentiality agreement. Apple’s Beijing spokeswoman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.”
Luk reports, “Gaining access to China Mobile’s more than 700 million subscribers would be a major step forward in Apple’s efforts to expand in China, the world’s largest smartphone market… China Unicom first started offering the iPhone in China in 2009. In November last year, China approved the iPhone 5 for launch on China Telecom and China Unicom’s networks.”
Read more in the full article here.
700 million potential purchasers could be a reason to develop a lower cost iPhone. Unique China Mobile chipsets would prevent cannibalization of the current iPhone user base, but seed the way forward for release of the iPhone nano in world markets in a couple of years. Chinese love American stuff. Some of them actually eat at KFC and McDonalds, despite living in the middle of some of the best Chinese food available. This will be great for Apple.
We live in interesting times.
I’d put the potential market in China at about 300M to 400M, essentially the urban population. I don’t think Apple wants to develop CM only chipsets. A TD-LTE chipset would be more likely.
And alot of Chinese eat at KFC and McD’s. I ate at the very first KFC at Tiananmen Square in Beijing the day it opened, as I worked not too far away. As for some of the “best Chinese food”, in some ways, with all of the food scandals in China, fake shark fin, recycled oil, adulterated milk, etc., etc., etc., it sometimes seems safest to eat international fast food. I mean, the delicious fish you buy at a restaurant could have been caught in the polluted canal behind the restaurant, the one full of heavy metals.
Yes, I’m with you on food safety issues, and I’ve been to business banquets with items available that I just couldn’t bring myself to risk, fish of unknown origin being one. But I don’t see how the issues are avoided in chain restaurants. Similar, less costly substitutes are available, it only takes the willingness of the operator to make the switch. Unless those are corporate owned stores, the risks are there. It’s a people issue, not a food issue.
Tim is to sign contract with china mobile . I know .
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Apple have always played a careful game with the iPhone, starting by limiting availability to a single carrier in the US. Remember that Verizon refused to do business with Apple because they didn’t like the terms, but in the end they had no choice. It will be the same with China Mobile – reports indicate they are losing market share now because they don’t have the iPhone, and remember that Apple are still having difficulty making enough iPhones to meet demand. China Mobile needs the iPhone more than Apple needs China Mobile and Apple will no doubt be content to win market share through their competitors until China Mobile works out that their future depends on Apple…
It’s Good to hear that Apple got permission to launch their products in China. I am eagerly waiting to have iphone 5.