Apple is looking to crack China and "shake-up" the market by striking a deal with the country's biggest mobile provider. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
APPLE products and popularity has reached the furthest reaches of the globe but trying to get a foothold in China has proven to be a slippery task. But a deal to bring the iPhone to China might be about to have Apple stock owners rubbing their hands with glee.
A report in the Wall Street Journal says Apple has reached agreement with China Mobile to bring the iPhone to customers in a market dominated by low-cost Android smartphones.
The Journal quoted unnamed sources as saying that the two companies have inked an agreement to add iPhones to the colossal telecom firm's roster of compatible devices later this month. China Mobile has denied the report.
"Talks between China Mobile and Apple on co-operation are still going on and we currently do not have anything to announce," the carrier's spokeswoman Rainie Lei told AFP.
Yet such a deal would be a major coup for the US tech giant, which could gain a beachhead in the world's most populous nation. China Mobile had more than 750 million subscribers as of October, according to Cantor Fitzgerald Research, which estimated that 35 million to 45 million iPhones were on the network despite the lack of a deal between the companies.
The market tracking firm estimated that Apple could sell as many as 24 million iPhones on the China Mobile network next year if it were added to the network's formal line-up.
Ben Thompson of tech new website Stratechery referred to Apple getting in synch with China Mobile "a very big deal." "Feel free to ignore anyone making snarky comments about China's average monthly wage being the same as the price of an iPhone 5C," Thompson wrote in a blog post.
He listed two pertinent facts about China for Apple as there being "tremendous income disparity" and "a ton of people" in a country with a population estimated at topping 1.3 billion.
"China consumers appear to us to have a deep admiration for Apple's products," Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White said in a note to investors giving shares a "buy" rating.
"Apple now has the opportunity to tap into the largest carrier in the world," he added, noting that China Mobile was just granted a license to upgrade to a new-generation network better suited for iPhones.
Apple chief Tim Cook has made China a priority for the company, and may travel there to take part in an announcement at a China Mobile conference later this month.
Industry tracker IDC forecast that smartphone sales in China will reach 360 million this year and, with the issuance of 4G network licenses and iPhones launched on China Mobile, top 450 million in 2014.
China Mobile has a unique 3G standard of its own that is not compatible with any existing iPhone models, although the Californian giant's handsets can be used on other networks in China.
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