Apple
An**unces Deal To
Bring iPhones To
China Mobile Starting On
Jan. 17
Apple and
China Mobile just an**unced that they’ve reached an agreement that will see the iPhone 5s and 5c launch on the
China Mobile’s 4G and 3G networks early next year.
Pre-registration is supposed to begin on December 25, with phones actually available on January 17 of next year.
“China is an extremely important market for
Apple and our partnership with
China Mobile presents us the opportunity to
Bring iPhone to the customers of the world’s largest network,” said
Apple CEO Tim Cook in the release.
China
Mobile says it has more than 760 million customers.
Apple has
been in talks with the network since 2011, and
The Wall Street Journalreported earlier this month that
a deal had been reached.
According to
a recent report from Canalys, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan collectively account for 39 percent of the global smartphone market, with
Apple ranking fifth in the region’s smartphone sales. R.W. Baird analyst
William Power recently predicted that a
Deal could lead to 12.5 million to 30 million more iPhone sales.
A**ther sign that
Apple is working to expand in
China was
this fall’s an**uncement that the iPad Air would be available in the country on launch day for the first time.
The release says that the
Deal will “give a big boost to the development of China’s homegrown 4G/TD-LTE tech**logy,” and that more details about pricing will be released at a later date.
