China Mobile and Apple have finally signed a long-overdue deal Sunday, to bring iPhone smartphones to the world's largest wireless network.
Apple has finally succeeded in gaining a grip in the growing Chinese smartphone market. The deal between the Cupertino tech giant and China Mobile was being talked about for a long time and an agreement has finally been signed , Sunday. This brings the high-end and pricey iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C models to China Mobile's 763 million customers.
China Mobile avoided Apple branded smartphones mainly because the carrier used a different wireless telecommunications standard. The giant Chinese wireless carrier received its 4G LTE licenses from China's Ministry of Industry just this month, opening room for Apple's 4G-compatible devices. On the other hand, China Mobile lost some of its customers who switched to other carriers, like the China Telecom and China Unicom in search of Apple's range of smartphones.
Apple was not quite successful with its iPhones in China through smaller carriers, compared to other markets, and needed a boost from bigger carriers. China Mobile was the strongest option to improve its ranking from fifth to the top 3, at least. While it is nearly impossible to attract a larger customer base with its pricey models, it may be reasonable for the tech giant to either launch a new line of cheaper handsets or cut down the prices of its current model.
China Mobile's wireless connectivity is reaching out to people in small cities and rural villages, which makes it difficult to push the unsubsidized phones to every user, as Chinese carriers do not subsidize high -end phones paid by U.S. and European carriers.
"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," New York Times quoted Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, as saying in a statement, Sunday.
Apple competes with rival companies in the growing market that offer cheaper smartphones. The top rank players in the field include the world's smartphone leader-Samsung, followed by Chinese makers Huawei, Lenovo and Yulong, putting Apple in the fifth position. Apple must find a way to attract customers towards its exclusive iOS from the dominance of Android operating systems if it wants to see itself in the higher position.
"The big challenge for Apple is that it needs more volume in sales," said Ken Dulaney, a Gartner analyst, according to Mercury News. He further predicts that the tech giant's next move will be to attract the budget-conscious customers in China.
"We're going to see if Apple is more of a religion than a business."
Apple is yet to release the pricing of its iPHone 5S and iPhone 5C through China Mobile. The pre-orders for the phones will commence starting Wednesday via the carrier's website and its customer service. The iPhones will hit the retail outlets from January 17.
