Will iPhone sales grow Apple's footprint in China?
China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile phone carrier, has quietly begun taking pre-orders for Apple聽Inc's iPhones, according to a report on Fortune.com.
Apple, which needs to expand its footprint in聽China, its biggest market after the聽United States, is trying to offset slowing revenue growth in developed markets that are increasingly saturated and hyper-competitive.
The Chinese carrier has struggled to sustain growth as rivals like聽China聽Unicom Hong Kong Ltd sign up new users at a faster pace.
Apple fell to No. 7 in the second quarter in聽China, the world's largest mobile market, with 5 percent market share, losing ground not just to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd but also to local rivals聽Lenovo Group聽Ltd and聽ZTE聽Corp .
Fortune's report, which could not be confirmed by Reuters, showed a screen grab from a reservation website that Fortune said was registered by a聽China聽Mobile subsidiary in southern聽China聽that began taking pre-orders for the聽iPhone聽5S and the聽iPhone聽5c late on Monday.聽
At 6:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.聽Beijing聽time), the page had been replaced with a notice saying it was being updated and pre-orders would resume later.
Representatives for聽China聽Mobile could not be reached for comment. Apple聽declined to comment.
In late October,聽China聽Mobile placed an advertisement for the faster 4G mobile network on its website, raising expectations that a long-awaited distribution deal with Apple聽would be announced soon.
Apple has spent years trying to reach a deal with聽China聽Mobile, with numerous visits to the state-owned carrier's聽Beijing headquarters. It has repeatedly insisted the Chinese market is crucial to the company.
The ongoing effort has fueled Wall Street hopes that a deal would come soon, offering the聽iPhone聽to more than 740 million potential buyers who are聽China聽Mobile subscribers. But negotiations have been tricky, in part because of disagreements over details like revenue-sharing, analysts have said.
China聽Mobile has struggled to attract users to its high-speed 3G standard, who accounted for just one-fifth of total subscribers. In August, 40 percent of聽China聽Unicom Hong Kong's subscribers were on 3G, versus 52 percent for聽China聽Telecom Corp Ltd.
A completed deal and the resulting jump in聽iPhone聽sales could boost Apple聽stock, which has been stuck below $600 for over a year.
The shares rose 1.7 percent to $560.73 on Tuesday.
