China Mobile in final stages of talks to bring iPhone to China

According to the AFP, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is in the final stages of talks with China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) to bring the iPhone to the “world’s fastest growing economy.” Apparently, the two companies are likely to call on a deal in the near future, though China Mobile’s spokesman declined to comment.

There’s no doubt Apple could benefit from the vast Chinese market, even if only 1% of China Mobile’s users end up buying the device. A single percent of their user base is 6 million people and that’s huge. However, we’re more probably talking about the original iPhone than the iPhone 3G here. China Mobile’s 3G network uses China-only TD-SCDMA technology which at the moment can’t sing along Apple’s 3G handset. Will Apple tweak the 3G radio for Chinese market? It’s hard to tell at this stage, but they certainly have an incentive to do so. We’ll keep watching and get back to you as soon as we have more to report on the subject, k?

[Via: Unwired View]