China Mobile

60 'China Mobile' stories July 2011 - January 2013

Report claims iPad 5 with iPad mini-like design set for October release, offers new details on upcoming iPhones

Jordan Kahn Jan 25 2013 - 9:02 am PT

iPad5-mockup-render-03 A new report from Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge provided us with what he claimed is a few details on the upcoming fifth-generation iPad based on hands-on time with a “supposedly accurate” physical model. He also claimed to have details on upcoming iPhone releases.

Horwitz noted he has inspected what he believed are casings for the iPad 5, and he described a completely redesigned device with “virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and Home Button elements.” As previously rumored, Horwitz claimed the fifth-gen iPad as iPad mini-like in its physical design with similar “chamfered edges and curves” along with the slimmed down bezel.

He also speculated that Apple could go with an IGZO display to achieve what he said is a much thinner design compared to previous generations:

Beyond that, it’s noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors. As it will have the same chamfered edges and curves, calling it a “stretched iPad mini” is very close to entirely accurate… The changes are so considerable that a new screen technology, such as IGZO, seems like a given. Going Retina for the third-generation iPad forced Apple to make that tablet a little thicker than the iPad 2, in part to seriously beef up the battery.

The report also said that Apple is now targeting an October release for the iPad 5, “give or take a couple of weeks,” after originally planning for a March launch.

Horwitz, who has been accurate with details of unreleased Apple products in the past, also claimed to have new details on the upcoming iPhone releases:

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German carrier announces new iPhone for September

9to5 Staff Aug 21 2012 - 6:53 am PT

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Mobilecom Debitel, a German carrier, just announced a new iPhone is coming. As if we needed any additional confirmation?

Machine translated: “In September, it’s finally time for a new generation of smartphone to go on sale. mobilcom-debitel allows you to find free e-mail about everything worth knowing about iPhone.”

While just about everyone knows the announcement and launch dates, Apple has been silent so far. Mobilecom has a much more subdued public-facing teaser where it advertises:

The new smartphone special surprises? Perhaps a bigger screen of 4 inches or a thinner cell touchscreen? The world expects a faster processor or higher graphics performance? Maybe even a memory of 1 GB? It will be exciting …

Another translated graphic below from the email:
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Without biggest mobile network in China, Samsung gains on Apple in smartphone sales

Seth Weintraub Mar 12 2012 - 6:20 am PT

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Bloomberg quotes a Gartner analyst:

“I don’t expect Apple to replace Samsung any time soon,” Gartner analyst Sandy Shen said in an interview. “China Telecom [story] is the nation’s smallest carrier, so the extent to which they can help Apple is quite limited.”

The 16.8 percentage-point gap in China between Cupertino, California-based Apple and Samsung almost doubled from the third quarter. While Samsung is No. 1 and Apple No. 5 in China, the global story is different: Worldwide, Apple passed its Suwon, South Korea-based competitor to become the biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter, according to Gartner.

When you consider that the iPhone is not yet made for China’s dominant carrier, which holds two-thirds of a BILLION customers, the news that Samsung is gaining market share on Apple is not surprising (15 million iPhones ride on incompatible China Mobile).

I will be surprised, however, if Apple does not close the gap next year. The sixth-generation iPhone will almost certainly work on China Mobile’s network.
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200,000 pre-orders later, China Telecom’s 130 million CDMA customers get access to the iPhone 4S today

Seth Weintraub Mar 9 2012 - 5:36 am PT

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image via M.I.C. Gadget

Sina Tech reports that CDMA iPhone 4S’s are being snapped up by its 130 million mobile subscribers today after the No. 2 player in the world’s largest mobile market recieved 200,000 pre-orders (and counting) starting last week.

We previously noted that the iPhone 4S on China Telecom would be available in every configuration: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The phone will start at “free” with a contract. China Telecom received its license to sell the iPhone in January. China Telecom officially announced it would begin selling the iPhone 4S last month.

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Apple appeases 15 million unofficial iPhone users on incompatible China Mobile network with software fix, due shortly after iPad 3 unveiling

9to5 Staff Mar 5 2012 - 7:19 am PT

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China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless company with 665 million subscribers, confirmed Monday that it now hosts 15 million iPhones on its network with an average of 35,000 new iPhone activations each day. Back in October, its network hosted 10 million iPhones. People get excited about T-Mobile USA’s 1 million iPhones, so it is worth pointing out that China Mobile’s number is more than seven times larger than what Sprint has—and it is not even Apple’s official carrier yet.

The real kicker: Those people do not get 3G service as China Mobile’s 3G TD-SCDMA network is incompatible with iPhone 4S. Similar to T-Mobile USA, China Mobile employs a different type of high-speed 4G-radio technology that the iPhone 4S cannot use. As a result, both networks’ customers are relegated to using EDGE/GSM data speeds.

iPhones are sold in China through carrier China Unicom, but that is bound to change soon. China Telecom, the country’s second-largest carrier with 130 million subscribers, will start selling the sought-after smartphone this Friday.

It would seem the China Mobile iPhone is a no brainer as 15 million people already unofficially use the device on China Mobile’s network with many more millions in the 1.33 billion-people market deemed potential subscribers. Another piece of information also indicates that Apple and China Mobile could be in the final stages of negotiations to bring the iPhone to China Mobile’s network. Read on…

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China Telecom says it will sell the iPhone 4S in a month

Jake Smith Jan 30 2012 - 7:20 pm PT

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Earlier this month, we reported that China Telecom earned the necessary approvals to launch the iPhone 4S on China’s third-largest carrier. Today, the China Telecom subsidiary Beijing Telecom issued a press release (via China Daily) and said the Beijing-based company will launch the iPhone 4S as early as the end of February or beginning of March.

A CDMA version of the iPhone 4S will launch on the network. The press release gave no word on pricing for the device, but it will likely fall in line with the other networks.

China Telecom currently boasts 36.3 million 3G subscribers, while in comparison the nation’s largest carrier China Mobile Ltd., boasts 51.2 million 3G subscribers. Obviously, the launch of the iPhone 4S brings a lot of excitement in China, and it gives Apple the chance to add new customers. Moreover, launching on China Mobile would add an abundance of new customers, but that does not look to be happening anytime soon.

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iPhone 4S gains necessary China certification; January launch expected for mainland

Jake Smith Dec 27 2011 - 11:12 am PT

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People Daily reported that Apple received the certification it needs by the China Compulsory Certification to launch the iPhone 4S in mainland China. The certification was awarded on Dec. 22, shortly after Apple also received certification from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. With the necessary certifications, Apple has now met all of its requirements to launch the iPhone 4S in China. People Daily said the iPhone 4S-model number A1431- will hit in early January.

To model how well the iPhone 4S could potentially do in China, in this year’s June quarter earnings, Apple’s sales in China topped $3.8 billion. Thus, obviously, the launch of the iPhone 4S in China would boost sales.

China Unicom is the third-largest carrier in China, and it remains the sole carrier for the iPhone. While Apple is able to reach a large market, only being available on one carrier leaves about 1.33 billion people in the market untapped. If Apple were to also sell the iPhone 4S on China Mobile, sales could grow substantially. At any rate, the iPhone 4S is at least on its way to China Unicom by January.

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China Mobile is the T-Mobile of the East with 10 million iPhone users, an incompatible high speed network and no contract

Seth Weintraub Oct 24 2011 - 11:37 am PT

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China Mobile doesn’t officially offer the iPhone yet. But it is carrying 10 Million iPhones on its network according to Reuters.

“We have not yet got agreement with Apple,” Wang said on the fringes of the ITU World telecoms fair in Geneva. “Apple promised to provide, when they develop the iPhone for LTE, that it will include TD-LTE. We are discussing the details.”

There had been rumors that Apple would offer a TL-LTE version of the iPhone 4S earlier this year with China Mobile going as far as saying:

China Mobile and Apple hope to find a solution for close collaboration. We discussed this issue with Apple. We hope Apple will produce a new iPhone with TD-LTE. We have already got a positive answer from Apple.

It appears that positive answer wasn’t for this round of devices, though the CDMA Verizon iPhone arrived off schedule in January. TD-LTE will require some separate chips which could be hard to fit inside the iPhone 4S’s enclosure. Apple however has to look longingly at that 600 million+ subscriber base, however.

While T-Mobile USA is on the opposite end of the subscriber spectrum (China Mobile has around the same amount of subscribers as the populations of Europe and the US combined), T-Mobile is the #4 carrier in the US in the midst of AT&T attempting to swallow it.

But they both don’t officially offer the iPhone, yet have a significant number of iPhones floating around on their network. Both offer a different type of high speed 4G network that stock iPhone 4Ses can’t take advantage of. Both networks do offer EDGE/GSM speeds however which some may find valuable tied with reduced fees or better coverage. T-Mobile told us earlier this year that they had over a million iPhones on their network, a figure that is likely to go up with Apple s neakily offering iPhones 4S unlocked at launch.

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China Mobile had secret iPhone meetings with Steve Jobs

9to5 Staff Aug 18 2011 - 6:57 am PT

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Reuters reported this morning that top brass from China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier by both subscribers and market valuation, and Apple’s head honcho Steve Jobs met “several times on introducing an iPhone based on its network standard”. Did Jobs travel incognito or was he accompanying Apple’s operations wizard Tim Cook during his China tour (snapped paparazzi-style in the shot below)?

More likely, Jobs probably hosted China Mobile reps in Cupertino.

Interestingly, China Mobile counts a cool 7.44 million iPhone users on its network, although it doesn’t carry the handset yet and iPhone users cannot tap 3G speeds on their TD-SCDMA 3G network.

Apple’s been alleged previously as wanting to release an iPhone optimized for China Mobile’s fourth-generation TD-LTE network. The Wall Street Journal chimed in with sources saying the gadget maker and China Mobile are close to cutting a deal set to open up the carrier’s 600+ million subscribers to Apple’s phone. The highest-level meeting isn’t surprising considering that Apple is only “scratching surface” in China, having reported in the June quarter a sixfold growth in the country for a total of $3.8B in revenues from operations in the country.

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‘Apple is only scratching the surface in China’ with 6X growth and $3.8B quarter?

Seth Weintraub Jul 19 2011 - 3:44 pm PT

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Apple’s beautiful Bejing Retail Store

Apple felt incredibly bullish on China in today’s conference call, rattling off numbers that even Tim Cook admitted they wouldn’t have believed if they had been told a year ago. How big is China for Apple?

In the year ago quarter, Apple counted $630 Million in revenues from China. Today, Apple grew that by a factor of six to $3.8B of the total $28+B of their total revenues for the quarter. That’s 13.3% of Apple’s total business by revenue which now comes from China.

To put that in perspective, $3.8B would have been over two-thirds of Apple’s 2007 (iPhone release) same quarter revenue and more than Apple’s whole global revenue for June ’05.

But ‘we’re only scratching the surface’.

Cook talked again about pre-paid phones (which are dominant in China) and a deal with the 600M-user China Mobile which is said to be in the wings. Apple is also said to be exploring a cheaper iPhone offering which would appeal to a much broader swath of the Chinese market (Indian too). This comes against a backdrop of Google Chairmen Eric Schmidt who is also bullish on Asia for Android.

Apple is also being aggressive in their China retail stores, choosing to open larger flagship stores which take more time to build. CFO Peter Oppenheimer mentioned that the Hong Kong Flagship store at the IFC would be opening this quarter. But Apple has an order of magnitude more stores opening up across China. Apple now sells through four stores. They have over 30 planned just for the next year.

If Apple’s growth in China stays on the current pace, which ‘scratching the surface’ seems to at least partially imply, China will account for over $20B in revenue at this time next year – which could start approach Apple’s US revenues even if Apple continues to grow globally as it has.

Below is an edited transcript of Cook’s remarks on China from Macworld:
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AAPL hits all-time high ahead of earnings tomorrow, approaches $350B market cap

Cleve Nettles Jul 18 2011 - 1:02 pm PT

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As Apple gears up to announce earnings tomorrow after the bell, the stock has hit an all time high each of the last two trading sessions. Today AAPL is up about 2.5% to just north of $373. Market cap is now just shy of and incredible $350B. (Exxon is at $409B) Great earnings are expected from AAPL as tech has found a footing following Google’s quarterly results last week that shot the stock up over 12%.

In addition to expected stellar earnings, news that Apple is close to inking a deal with China Mobile has given the iPhone maker a boost. This deal would potentially give Apple access to China Mobile’s 600m subscriber base. Stay tuned tomorrow for the exact earnings release.

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WSJ: China Mobile “getting closer” to deal that will make iPhone available to 600 million subscribers

Mark Gurman Jul 18 2011 - 11:17 am PT

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[vodpod id=Video.13339040&w=650&h=400&fv=videoGUID%3D%7B2606B2B4-E5C1-41E6-A7FF-191E5D010FA3%7D%26amp%3Bplayerid%3D1000%26amp%3BplyMediaEnabled%3D1%26amp%3BconfigURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwsj.vo.llnwd.net%2Fo28%2Fplayers%2F%26amp%3BautoStart%3Dfalse]

Without revealing too many new details, The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and China Mobile are “getting closer” to the seemingly elusive China Mobile iPhone deal. China Mobile is the mainland’s largest carrier with over 600 million subscribers (that’s about the equiv. of the US+European populations). The report also confirms that it was, in fact, Tim Cook who was spotted at China Mobile‘s headquarters in mid-June.

China Mobile references in the iOS SDK – Thanks, Sonny Dickson!

The WSJ also discusses the price of the current iPhone models in context with the average salaries for China households:

The iPhone, which currently sells for between 3,999 and 5,999 yuan without contract, would be a luxury for many Chinese consumers. The average household income in the first half of 2011 was 12,076 yuan, according to China’s national statistics bureau.

With this fact in mind, it makes sense for Apple to build and sell a more economical iPhone. The report is not specific about when this China Mobile iPhone will launch and China Mobile has already confirmed that talks with Apple over carrying the iPhone are ongoing. Be sure to check out the WSJ’s explanation of the “exclusive” in the video above.

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