China Mobile has finally found a mutual ground with Apple, having signed a deal to sell iPhones in the world’s most populous country, and second-largest economy for that matter. The deal will see Apple tapping China Mobile’s vast customer base, counting north of 700 million users.
The Wall Street Journal believes the iPhone will be officially launched on December 18th when the carrier is scheduled to announce its new 4G service.
Up until this point, Apple fanboys had to turn to smaller rivals, China Unicom and China Telecom, to get the iPhone. Or buy it unlocked elsewhere and then use it with a network of their choice (without 3G on China Mobile, unfortunately). By going to bed with China Mobile, Apple is opening a new frontier for growth, one that gives it access to millions of customers that were beyond its reach before. And yes, the company is placing the foundation for another record-breaking quarter…