“Apple Inc. is preparing to ship iPhones to China Mobile Ltd., people familiar with the matter say, an indication that a long-awaited deal between the two companies is in place,” Daisuke Wakabayashi, Lorraine Luk, Ian Sherr and Paul Mozur report for The Wall Street Journal. “A deal would cap years of negotiations between the two companies. Apple has tried to hammer out a deal with China’s largest wireless carrier that has 700 million subscribers, seven times the size of the U.S.’s largest wireless carrier Verizon Wireless. Greater China is Apple’s third biggest market after the U.S. and Europe in terms of sales.”
“It isn’t clear if Apple and China Mobile have signed an official sales agreement, but the fact that Apple is planning to ship phones implies a deal has been struck,” Wakabayashi, Luk, Sherr and Mozur report. “On Tuesday, Apple will unveil two new iPhones slated to ship this September, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, including a new high-end model and a cheaper version.”
Wakabayashi, Luk, Sherr and Mozur report, “Apple has asked Foxconn, its longtime contract manufacturing partner, to add China Mobile to the list of carriers slated to receive a new low-cost iPhone, one of these people said. It isn’t clear when the phones would be delivered.”
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