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Apple Finally Signs Deal With China Mobile for December iPhone Launch

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple and China Mobile have finally reached a deal that will see the world's biggest mobile carrier offering the iPhone on its network, reports The Wall Street Journal.

China Mobile, which has more than 700 million subscribers, is expected to begin selling the iPhone around December 18 following a China Mobile conference in Guangzhou where the company is also expected to debut its 4G network. Earlier today, the Chinese government finally granted TD-LTE licenses to China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, the country's three major carriers.

china_mobile_subsidary_iphone5c5s-800x294.png
China Mobile is one of the last major carriers in the world that does not currently offer the iPhone, and the deal could bring a huge boost in sales to Apple. Currently, only China's smaller carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom, offer the iPhone on their 3G networks.
A deal with China Mobile would give Apple access to a subscriber base that is seven times the size of Verizon Wireless, the U.S.'s largest carrier. Greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, is Apple's third biggest market after the U.S. and Europe in terms of revenue.
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Apple and China Mobile have been in talks for several years, and CEO Tim Cook traveled to China to meet with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua back in July where the two made headway on a potential deal.

News of a finalized deal has been expected since September, as the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c were the first iPhones supporting China Mobile's TD-LTE standard. Apple also received the final license it needed to operate on China Mobile's wireless standard back in September following the launch of the newest iPhones.

Update: A China Mobile spokesperson tells Reuters that the two companies are "still negotiating".
"We are still negotiating with Apple, but for now we have nothing new to announce," China Mobile spokeswoman Rainie Lei said, declining to elaborate. Apple also declined comment.
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Article Link: Apple Finally Signs Deal With China Mobile for December iPhone Launch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/04/apple-finally-signs-deal-with-china-mobile-for-december-iphone-launch/
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,024
7,867
We all knew it was coming, but it's welcome news nonetheless. So far, there's no after-hours market reaction, but it may well have been priced in already, particularly with the premature pre-orders and the earlier announcement that China had approved the 4G licenses.
 
0

081440

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2006
161
33
New Jersey
Finally!

Can't wait for pre-market trading tomorrow! I don't think this was priced in to happen this year. Priced to expect early 2014 agreement.
 
Tankmaze

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
China Mobile, which has more than 700 million subscribers, is expected to begin selling the iPhone around December
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woow, that is a lot of subscribers! $$$$ for :apple:
 
SactoGuy18

SactoGuy18

macrumors 601
Sep 11, 2006
4,339
1,501
Sacramento, CA USA
My guess is that the cellphone radio chip on both the iPhone 5C and 5S are fully compatible with the TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE digital cellular standards used by China Mobile "out of the box" but was not revealed until now.

This means China Mobile's 750 million user base can now use the iPhone even in LTE mode.
 
M

Marc-SP

Guest
Oct 7, 2013
165
0
Good news for Apple, but keep in mind that almost any China Mobile subscriber that wanted an iPhone already got one. In China there are almost no subsidies (aka trap for fools :p) for mobile phones. People is used to just buy the phone they want, and you can buy an unlocked iPhone in many places, including the Apple store.
The main advantage is that this new version of the iphone will finally support China Mobile's 3G and 4G standard.

If someone is wondering how anyone could use an iPhone only with 2G (as most international standard phones are not compatible with CM's 3G network), I will tell you that maaany smartphone users in China have a very small data plan (30-100 MB/month) or even no data plan at all. They use mobile data for messaging (text only) and little more.
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,024
7,867
The Barron said:
Get ready for the stock to pass the $600 per share mark before year's end!

It's "on sale" right now. :)
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Hopefully you are right. In today's WSJ I had to read how I should have put my money into American Airlines stock after they went into Chapter 11. Talk about "on sale" - it was $.20 then and now it's over $11 (kind of like buying Apple just before the Microsoft deal in 1997).

In any case, I'll be happy if Apple goes back above $600. My average cost is around $450/share.
 
sh0vel

sh0vel

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2010
72
0
Marc-SP said:
Good news for Apple, but keep in mind that almost any China Mobile subscriber that wanted an iPhone already got one.
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You have a point but keep in mind that we have have a couple notable examples to refer to; I think it has turned out quite well for Verizon and NTT DoCoMo.
 
M

Marc-SP

Guest
Oct 7, 2013
165
0
Michael Scrip said:
Oh I think Apple will sell a couple iPhones on China Mobile. Maybe even a few ;)
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Sure, that's why I said "good news for Apple". I just want people to understand that there are not 700 million people (or even 100m) waiting like zombies for the iPhone to land on their network. If they wanted an iPhone (and could afford it), they already got one. All people I know in China with iPhone are using CM (it's the most popular carrier after all).

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sh0vel said:
You have a point but keep in mind that we have have a couple notable examples to refer to; I think it has turned out quite well for Verizon and NTT DoCoMo.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that Verizon and DoCoMo are not so friendly towards devices not sold by them. China Mobile, on the other hand (like most European carriers) doesn't care where you got your device as far as it can work in its network (same standard).
 
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LaidBack

LaidBack

macrumors member
Apr 6, 2011
57
1
I hope we find more details about the deal between apple and china mobile. Was china mobile able to work out more favorable terms by waiting so long to sign on?
 
512ke

512ke

macrumors 6502a
Sep 10, 2003
577
186
No. Apple will sell way more iPhones because of this deal. Way way more.

Way way more.

Bookmark page and come back next quarter.

Way

More lol
 
0

081440

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2006
161
33
New Jersey
I think those posting that everyone who wanted on on CM already has one are overestimating how the general population behaves around technology. And don't forget, those who are using an iPhone on CM right now can't even get 3G or LTE. Anyone who wants any sort of data would be waiting for the official support.
 
M

Marc-SP

Guest
Oct 7, 2013
165
0
081440 said:
I think those posting that everyone who wanted on on CM already has one are overestimating how the general population behaves around technology. And don't forget, those who are using an iPhone on CM right now can't even get 3G or LTE. Anyone who wants any sort of data would be waiting for the official support.
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Sure they will sell more iPhones, just not as many as the 700m subscribers number could suggest. The few people really needing 3G are in China Unicom.
As I said, many smartphone users in China have a really small or no data plan. 2G (GPRS-EDGE) is enough for them (even beneficial, as they cannot reach their small data cap in a few minutes by mistake).
China is not like USA where many times you are forced to get an expensive data plan if you want an smartphone (even if you just use the data to send text Whatsapp messages and get updates on the weather).

I pay about 8 USD for my phone plan in China Mobile (including a few hours of free calls, 200 SMS and 200 MB of data). I have wifi at home and at the work place. Many tines I still have 20-30 MB of mobile data left at the end of the month. Why should I pay more? I think in most countries of Europe you can also get similarly priced plans, with some more data (500MB).
 
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sh0vel

sh0vel

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2010
72
0
Marc-SP said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that Verizon and DoCoMo are not so friendly towards devices not sold by them. China Mobile, on the other hand (like most European carriers) doesn't care where you got your device as far as it can work in its network (same standard).
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Actually I think China Mobile (like NTT DoCoMo I believe) wanted preinstalled apps, carrier branding and revenue sharing of some sort. The issue with Verizon was mostly the exclusive contract that Apple had with ATT. I believe Android OEMs facilitated these 3 things and some carriers were seeking to use this as leverage against Apple.

I'm not fully certain of all of these since it's been quite a while since these issues have been of major focus in tech news reporting. I agree with all the points you've made though, there are a lot of nuances to consider.
 
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