If Apple were to reach agreements with carriers China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo to offer the iPhone before the end of the year, it would increase the company's addressable market by about 900 million total subscribers, providing a major boost to sales throughout 2014.
According to KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, China Mobile will introduce Apple's iPhone to its 700 million subscribers by the end of the year, but the world's largest telecom first needs to finish rolling out its TDD-LTE network, a task that could delay the phone's launch until November.
Apple's current carrier partners China Unicom and China Telecom may offer the company's next-generation iPhones as soon as Sept. 20, though a launch on China Mobile is expected to come slightly later, a new rumor claims.
The news that Apple will hold its first-ever iPhone media event in China has generated expectations that the company has something big up its sleeve, such as a sooner-than-expected launch of new models in that country, or perhaps a deal with China Mobile, the world's largest carrier.
Investment firm UBS sees shares of Apple rising more than 10 percent in the near future based on the potential for a lower-cost iPhone to make a big splash in the Chinese smartphone market.
No deal has been struck between China Mobile and Apple, as the world's largest carrier revealed this week that talks between the two parties continue.
Tim Cook's trip to China included a visit with the head of the largest carrier in the world, China Mobile, as Apple's chief executive continues to work toward a potential partnership.
China Mobile will spend 41.7 billion yuan ($6.7 billion U.S.) to develop 4G technology this year in anticipation of the arrival of the world's most popular smartphone — Apple's iPhone — on the world's most populous wireless carrier.
Apple supplier Qualcomm on Thursday announced a new "global LTE" front end solution that operates on 40 bands, including all existing LTE networks, which could usher in a truly global iPhone that even supports the obscure TD-SCDMA network used by the world's largest carrier China Mobile.
Riding on rumors of a purported "budget" iPhone, Morgan Stanley on Tuesday released a report estimating that Apple could add nearly $2.4 billion dollars to its handset business and triple its addressable smartphone market in China by debuting a $330 "iPhone mini."
The number of mobile 3G subscribers in China surged 83 percent in 2012, again underscoring the importance of the country to potential growth for Apple's iPhone.
While in China, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook gave an interview with local media, in which he revealed that he met with China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier.
The total number of 3G subscribers in China reached 222 million in November, up 88 percent year over year, giving yet another indication why the market is so important for continued growth of Apple's iPhone.
Yue Li, president of the world's largest wireless carrier China Mobile, confirmed on Wednesday that the telecom has been in talks with Apple since 2009 to bring the iPhone to its network since, however the two are far from striking a deal.
The iPhone 5 was awarded a network access license in China, setting Apple's handset up for an anticipated mid-December launch.
An anticipated deal between Apple and China Mobile, the largest wireless operator in the world, is predicted to add about $3 to Apple's annual earnings per share, and $45 to the company's stock price.
A Chinese regulatory agency on Tuesday revealed that two models of Apple's iPhone 5 have been granted approval to operate on the country's networks, suggesting that the popular smartphone will soon launch in the world's largest wireless market.
An anticipated deal between Apple and China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world, could double sales of the iPhone in China, according to one new analysis.
Even without availability on China's largest mobile provider, the iPhone's market share in China has grown form 9.9 percent a year ago to 17.3 percent in the June quarter.
Though China Mobile is the largest wireless provider on on the planet, its number of high-speed 3G subscribers remains relatively small and growth is slow as the carrier does not currently offer Apple's iPhone.
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Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Sam Oliver
Kevin Bostic
Mikey Campbell
