“The weekend deal between Apple Inc. and China Mobile Ltd. has been generally interpreted as a boost for Apple — and it is,” Paul Ausick writes for 24/7 Wall St. “While the deal was important for Apple, it was probably more important to China Mobile, a company that is majority-owned by another company that is wholly owned by the Chinese government.”
“The reason for the lack of iPhones on China Mobile’s network has long been the carrier’s slow adoption of a compatible 3G network. Of China Mobile’s 763 million customers, only 181 million were 3G subscribers at the end of November,” Ausick writes. “That means 582 million subscribers were on the company’s 2G networks. Does anyone in the United States or Europe remember the 2G network? Didn’t think so.”
“The agreement between Apple and China Mobile was delayed by this lack of network structure. Apple needed a commitment from the Chinese firm that it would build out its 4G network before iPhones would be available,” Ausick writes. “pple honchos, likely led by the late Steve Jobs, did not want to sell iPhones on a network that either could not support them or would make them look bad and not worth the premium price.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple shares jump on China Mobile deal – December 23, 2013
It’s official: China Mobile and Apple bring iPhone to China Mobile networks on January 17th – December 22, 2013