Apple has signed a deal with the world’s largest mobile carrier, China Mobile, to bring the iPhone into the Chinese Market. As China Mobile has more than 760 million subscribers, the partnership is sure to mean good things for both companies.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, regarding his company's new partnership with China Mobile, said in a statement that the agreement “presents us the opportunity to bring the iPhone to the customers of the world’s largest network.”
China Mobile was one of only three networks to be awarded the country’s first 4G licenses earlier this December, making it the best carrier in the world’s largest smartphone market, with about 1.2 million users.
Now that China Mobile’s technology has upgraded from 3G to 4G, the network is now compatible with Apple devices.
Apple to bring iPhone to China Mobile
Apple has been aiming to break into China’s smartphone market for some time, but each attempt has been met with steep competition from rival companies. Despite China Unicom and China Telecom, the country’s other two main carriers, already offering the iPhone to subscribers, consumers have been purchasing cheaper devices from Samsun or domestic developers. This could be due to the fact that most phone carriers in emerging markets do not subsidize phones, meaning consumers are expected to pay the full cost of an iPhone up front.
To combat this during their new deal, Apple has released a cheaper version of their product, the iPhone 5c, although they still have not revealed the price that consumers in China will be expected to pay for the model.
Despite these hiccups, the deal still presents huge potential for both Apple and China Mobile — analysts such as Cantor Fitzgerald Research estimate sales of around 24 million iPhones next year to China Mobile customers alone.
For comparison's sake, last year, the company sold 102.4 million iPhones across the globe.
While there are still some struggles to get through, this deal is certainly something to keep your eye on.
Source BBC
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