Apple granted iPhone network license for China Mobile, world's largest carrier
The long wait for Apple to reach a deal with China Mobile, a carrier with more than 700 million subscribers, may finally be near an end, as the company has received the required license for its iPhone lineup from government regulators.
China's Telecom Equipment Certification Center was updated on Wednesday to reveal that Apple had been granted a "network access license" for an iPhone that would run on China Mobile's network, according to The Wall Street Journal. The devices would be compatible with China Mobile's 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Also given approval were iPhones compatible with carriers China Unicom and China Telecom, both of which are set to receive the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c when they go on sale worldwide next Friday, Sept. 20.
China Mobile subscribers will have to wait a little longer, however. According to KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone will launch on its network before the end of the year, allowing China Mobile more time to finish rolling out its TD-LTE high-speed network.
After they were announced on Friday, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were both revealed to support China Mobile's TD-LTE bands, suggesting that the carrier already has an unannounced partnership with Apple. The TD-LTE standard is a somewhat rare flavor of 4G used by China Mobile.
With more than 740 million subscribers and 138 million smartphone users, China Mobile is the largest wireless provider in the world. Rumors of an imminent deal between Apple and the carrier have remained for years, but to date the iPhone is still not officially available on China Mobile.
But Apple did announce a deal has been struck with NTT DoCoMo this week, the largest carrier in Japan with about 61 million subscribers. Both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will launch on that carrier next Friday.
The addition of NTT DoCoMo and anticipated launch of iPhones on China Mobile is predicted by analyst Chris Withmore of Deutsche Bank to drive an additional 35 million handset sales in calendar 2014. In his eyes, that could incrementally boost the company's 2014 earnings per share by around $5.
China's Telecom Equipment Certification Center was updated on Wednesday to reveal that Apple had been granted a "network access license" for an iPhone that would run on China Mobile's network, according to The Wall Street Journal. The devices would be compatible with China Mobile's 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Also given approval were iPhones compatible with carriers China Unicom and China Telecom, both of which are set to receive the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c when they go on sale worldwide next Friday, Sept. 20.
China Mobile subscribers will have to wait a little longer, however. According to KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone will launch on its network before the end of the year, allowing China Mobile more time to finish rolling out its TD-LTE high-speed network.
After they were announced on Friday, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were both revealed to support China Mobile's TD-LTE bands, suggesting that the carrier already has an unannounced partnership with Apple. The TD-LTE standard is a somewhat rare flavor of 4G used by China Mobile.
With more than 740 million subscribers and 138 million smartphone users, China Mobile is the largest wireless provider in the world. Rumors of an imminent deal between Apple and the carrier have remained for years, but to date the iPhone is still not officially available on China Mobile.
But Apple did announce a deal has been struck with NTT DoCoMo this week, the largest carrier in Japan with about 61 million subscribers. Both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will launch on that carrier next Friday.
The addition of NTT DoCoMo and anticipated launch of iPhones on China Mobile is predicted by analyst Chris Withmore of Deutsche Bank to drive an additional 35 million handset sales in calendar 2014. In his eyes, that could incrementally boost the company's 2014 earnings per share by around $5.
Comments
Yet, AAPL getting punished now, down $19 pre-market. Clearly, the market is reacting negatively to the surpringly conservative 5C pricing. It's a huge opportunity lost.
Good news either way.
Good timing potentially four months after the new models are released and mostly outside the affordability of the Chinese consumer. No wonder the stock is continuing to get hammered.
Indeed! And they've just released the perfect (i.e. easily up-scaled mass production) iPhone for the China and Japan markets. Expect stock prices to soar.
Perfect? Maybe 5% of the people on China Mobile will buy a phone in that price range. Of that 5% how many will pick an iPhone? 1 or 2 percent?
The reason the stock is tanking is the 5c isn't going to gain Apple any substantial penetration increase (ie revenue increase) and with nothing else announced no reason to expect the EPS to increase.
The reality is EPS could be $30 this time next year. That's a big number, but not big enough to sustain the sock price. Next quarter should look good with both phones being available everywhere for part of September, and then there is the holiday quarter, but hard to see either beating the numbers year over year.
That's just not been true since 2001. The most remarkable thing about Apple has been its willingness to kill off the old to replace with the new, as long as the customer and the cash flow stayed with the company (recall what they did with the Nano?). The current conservatism is what many people are reacting negatively to.
Listening to Walter Isaacson this morning on CNBC came as a sad revelation, since I found myself agreeing with him (I am sure they'll upload the clip in the next hour or so).
What did Walter say?
Finally. Huge news.
Yet, AAPL getting punished now, down $19 pre-market. Clearly, the market is reacting negatively to the surpringly conservative 5C pricing. It's a huge opportunity lost.
Personally, I'm rather proud of how they "unapologetically" refused to sell a cheaper iPhone.
IMO, by judging Apple with the optics of the stock market, we risk losing sight of what this company is about. I appreciate, respect that some here have much invested. But going against the grain is Apple's trademark, lest we forget.
Regarding the 5c pricing...Apple is doing the right thing here. Whether you like it or not. Apple is setting the bar not following others to the bottom. It makes no sense for them to gain unprofitable marketshare by offering a low price to satisfy investors.
It's not about right or wrong. It's a choice. And they chose, as they often, to go a different path. Good on Cook.
Does anyone know when reviews will start coming out? I assume tech journalists have review units they're using right now?
Some brief, initial hands-on reviews are already out. But, frankly, what are you expecting? The answer to the key question is out there - Touch ID is nearly instantaneous.
. But the introduction of the 5C (plastic phone) will allow them to enter the true mid-level market when the right time comes.
At $550, its not "true mid-level", its still high end prices...
I dont mind Apple selling this 5C at $550 with the ip5 specs, BUT then they should also do a $400 phone with the 4s specs. Its not just emerging markets, its all markets that will get hurt.
They finally got the contract to be on the network, but too bad they forgot to bring the "inexpensive" phone they need to succeed in that market.