“China Mobile Ltd. said it ended talks to sell Apple Inc.’s IPhone in China, stalling Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s plans to introduce the handset in the biggest market by users,” John Liu reports for Bloomberg.
“Rainie Lei, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for China Mobile, said she is unaware of any plans for further talks with Apple. She wouldn’t say why the discussions stopped. Jill Tan, a Hong Kong- based spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment,” Liu reports. “The negotiations ended because Apple wanted more revenue from game, music and video downloads than China Mobile would offer, the Sina.com Web site said today.”
“China Mobile, which already has an agreement to sell Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry handsets in China, added 6.5 million subscribers in November for a total of 362.8 million. The carrier doesn’t rule out future cooperation with Apple, Lei said,” Liu reports. “China has more subscribers than the populations of the U.S., Japan, and the U.K. combined. The country was home to 539.4 million wireless-phone customers as of the end of November, according to government data.”
“Apple wanted 20 percent to 30 percent of fees from providing data services to iPhone users, Sina.com said, citing Gao Nianshu, director of China Mobile’s data services. China Mobile, the world’s biggest wireless-phone company by subscribers, charges users for downloading games, music and Web sites over its wireless network,” Liu reports. “The companies will meet for another round of talks, today’s Sina.com report said, without providing details.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Bob R,” “Steven,” and “Too Hot!” for the heads up.]
Please explain to us how this Bloomberg article can be headlined “China Mobile Ends Talks With Apple to Sell IPhone,” when it reports that the companies will meet for another round of talks? The article should be headlined “Apple and China Mobile take tea break during negotiations.” Leaks to the press during negotiations is standard procedure, but please, at least make the leaks make sense.
