Apple Computer signs iPhone
sales deal with China Mobile
Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Apple’s new sales agreement with China Mobile, the world’s largest telecom carrier, will not be limited just to iPhones, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicates.
Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“This is just a beginning,” Cook said. “I think there are lots more things our companies can do together and today is just a beginning,” he said in announcing the deal.
The lucrative Apple iPhone agreement went into effect on Jan. 17 and China Mobil Chairman Xi Guohua said orders are already flowing in, even though a 16 GB iPhone 5S sells there unsubsidized for about US $870, and the colorful but less powerful 5C with similar storage at US $738.
But competition is keen and China Mobile says they have several marketing plans up their sleeves ready to implement. Meanwhile Google and others have been selling their Android phones independently for less than Apple hoping to open cracks in the Chinese market.
Cook said he is “incredibly optimistic” about the China Mobile deal. He said this would massively expand Apple’s opportunities in China, making the iPhones available in more than 3,000 additional store locations.
He said in recently visiting the country that he learned more than half a million software developers there are writing apps for Apple’s iOS operating system.
“Apple has always been about making the best products, not the most products, so that’s always our North Star and that’s not ever going to change,” Cook maintains.
