The iPhone is one of those devices that wireless carriers see as a money maker. After all, it’s the iPhone. So when a company like China Mobile comes out and suggests that the next iteration of the iPhone should use their 3G network, we can assume two things: First, that China Mobile wants a money maker on their hands, that can utilize their fast network speeds. And second, that Apple definitely wants to be part of China Mobile.
But why would Apple want to join the ranks of phone manufacturers offering devices to the Chinese wireless provider? Simply put, China Mobile has over a half billion subscribers. To put that into perspective, that means they’ve got almost double the number of subscribers than the United States has in total population. Yeah, we’ll let that sink in. According to the Financial Times, UK, the head of China Mobile has reached out to Apple to make it possible that the next version of Apple’s superstar product offer up the carrier-specific 3G network. Apparently though, Apple hasn’t responded to the plea quite yet.
China Mobile has two competitors in China: China Telecom and China Unicom, and it’s the latter that has the distribution deal with Apple right now. So, the fact that China Mobile is taking the steps necessary to attract Apple onto their network means that they must be in danger of falling behind the two other companies. We’ll have to keep our eyes on this one, and see what happens if, indeed, Apple changes things up and offers the iPhone with China Mobile. It can’t be that bad of an idea for the Cupertino-based company, though. That’s a lot of monthly subscribers buying an iPhone.
[via 9to5 Mac]
