Apple has reportedly signed a deal with China Mobile, which will finally bring the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C range to the biggest mobile network in the world.
It’s incredible to think that the world’s most iconic and popular smartphone brand has never, in its six years of existence, been available on the world’s biggest network.
China Mobile is one of the last major world networks to take Apple’s smartphone line, and with 700 million subscribers that’s been quite a loss in potential custom. Just to put that into context, the second largest network in the world is Vodafone with around 400 million subscribers worldwide.
That’s set to change some time around December 18, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, with China Mobile due to come on board with Apple.
December 18 is a key date because that’s when China Mobile is set to unveil its 4G plans. This 4G availability has been one of the last hurdles in bringing the iPhone to China Mobile, with Apple unwilling to to support the carrier’s "unique and relatively unreliable" 3G network.
The Chinese network’s smaller local rivals have featured the iPhone on their rosters for some years now, thanks to the employment of alternative 3G technology.
Meanwhile China Mobile, for its part, is said to have been unhappy with Apple’s demands for sales volume guarantees in the past.
Things have evidently changed, and Apple is said to have been eager to strike a deal. With rival Samsung now responsible for a third of all global smartphone sales, it’s easy to see why.
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