Rumor: World's largest carrier China Mobile begins producing advertising collateral for iPhone 5c, 5
Long-rumored Apple carrier partner China Mobile has begun readying advertising materials for 3G variants of Apple's iPhone 5s and 5c, according to a new report out of the middle kingdom.
A poster advertising the upcoming availability of the iPhone 5s and 5c from China Mobile has been spotted on the mainland, according to Chinese media conglomerate Sina's Sina Tech. If legitimate, the poster would represent the first official acknowledgement of the long-rumored deal that would send Apple's iPhone to the world's largest mobile carrier and its 740 million subscribers.
The poster touts the 3G variant of the newly released handsets, suggesting that the carrier may be angling to open sales of the devices sooner rather than later. While the iPhone has gained approval from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to operate on China Mobile's 4G TD-LTE network, the Chinese government has yet to issue 4G operating licenses to carriers and there is no word on when those licenses may be handed down.
As a result, China Mobile must either wait for the government to approve its 4G operations and risk losing further revenue-inflating iPhone sales to rivals China Unicom and China Telecom or begin offering the iPhone only on the company's 3G TD-SCDMA network. The report speculates that China Mobile will choose the latter course, enabling the iPhone's 4G TD-LTE capabilities with a software update after the proper operating licenses are granted.
The flagship iPhone 5s, featuring Apple's updated A7 processor, new Touch ID biometric security, and redesigned camera -- along with the mid-range iPhone 5c with its new, colorful polycarbonate shell -- have amassed record-breaking sales numbers in their first weekend of availability. Last week's release was the first in which China was included as a launch country, and reservations for purchase of the new smartphones were quickly depleted across the country.
A poster advertising the upcoming availability of the iPhone 5s and 5c from China Mobile has been spotted on the mainland, according to Chinese media conglomerate Sina's Sina Tech. If legitimate, the poster would represent the first official acknowledgement of the long-rumored deal that would send Apple's iPhone to the world's largest mobile carrier and its 740 million subscribers.
The poster touts the 3G variant of the newly released handsets, suggesting that the carrier may be angling to open sales of the devices sooner rather than later. While the iPhone has gained approval from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to operate on China Mobile's 4G TD-LTE network, the Chinese government has yet to issue 4G operating licenses to carriers and there is no word on when those licenses may be handed down.
As a result, China Mobile must either wait for the government to approve its 4G operations and risk losing further revenue-inflating iPhone sales to rivals China Unicom and China Telecom or begin offering the iPhone only on the company's 3G TD-SCDMA network. The report speculates that China Mobile will choose the latter course, enabling the iPhone's 4G TD-LTE capabilities with a software update after the proper operating licenses are granted.
The flagship iPhone 5s, featuring Apple's updated A7 processor, new Touch ID biometric security, and redesigned camera -- along with the mid-range iPhone 5c with its new, colorful polycarbonate shell -- have amassed record-breaking sales numbers in their first weekend of availability. Last week's release was the first in which China was included as a launch country, and reservations for purchase of the new smartphones were quickly depleted across the country.
Comments
Oh boy...
I don't like this. If things keep going this way and the 5c takes off to outsell the 5s during the year, Apple will never be forced to make a bigger screen iPhone.
Me happy but me also sad.
Apple doesn't get forced to do anything (except from the gov). I'm sure once all the compromises are worked out to Apple's satisfaction, a 4.5" iPhone will be available.
Also, there's no growth for Apple with China Mobile. /s
Zero taste, just like the rest of Chinese advertising.
At least it’s another 300,000,000 sold for Apple.
If things keep going this way and the 5c takes off to outsell the 5s during the year, Apple will never be forced to make a bigger screen iPhone.
Yeah, they’ll never be “forced” to make one, anyway. Because they don’t want to. Because it’s a terrible idea.
This is by far the most ugly advertising of an Apple product I have ever seen. I just hope all the 740M China Mobile customers won't mind.
Zero taste, just like the rest of Chinese advertising.
At least it’s another 300,000,000 sold for Apple.
If things keep going this way and the 5c takes off to outsell the 5s during the year, Apple will never be forced to make a bigger screen iPhone.
Yeah, they’ll never be “forced” to make one, anyway. Because they don’t want to. Because it’s a terrible idea.
Until they sucked the 4" premium space dry and do it... Right?
Open your eyes a little and try to be a little bit rational, at least.
There's a very lucrative segment waiting for Apple. They could even price 299 on contract and up up up...
Sales, money, saturation ???????????? the reasons to make a device/the ONLY reasons to make a device.
Please do try to be rational and think about the subject matter here. Then you’ll see you can’t use a larger phone.
Sales, money, saturation ???????????? the reasons to make a device/the ONLY reasons to make a device.
Please do try to be rational and think about the subject matter here. Then you’ll see you can’t use a larger phone.
Like the one I use?
This news will eventually cause all those hedge fund frauds and negative, fake, doomsday 'investors' to eat crow. I love it!
You may enjoy this one
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/09/20/first-weekend-iphone-sales-could-disappoint-potentially-significantly-at-3-4-million/
Someone commented that maybe he should think about retirement. His response was that there's a risk of error when forecasting. Apparently, he forgot to mention that his version of forecasting involved rolling dice.
Someone commented that maybe he should think about retirement. His response was that there's a risk of error when forecasting. Apparently, he forgot to mention that his version of forecasting involved rolling dice.
The new pattern is for an analyst to publicly claim that Apple is doing something, then lower their AAPL forecast when Apple doesn't do that thing. They blame Apple for their own incorrect predictions.
Of course, that only works when analysts make sh*t up about future Apple products or features or services. When analysts lowball iPhone sales and Apple beats their lowball number, there's nobody to blame. The lowball analyst, who was clearly attempting to manipulate AAPL down for shorters, loses esteem among investors. The negative forecast didn't change AAPL enough for shorters to profit, so they'll ignore him/her next time. The bears will pay some other analysts to issue negative statements about Apple and cross their fingers. Again and again.
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/is-apples-gold-iphone-shortage-a-scheme.html/?ref=YF
Some commentators have speculated that Apple may be deliberately throttling the gold-colored iPhone 5S supply in order to build consumer demand.
I don't get it.
Zero taste, just like the rest of Chinese advertising.
At least it’s another 300,000,000 sold for Apple.
Yeah, they’ll never be “forced” to make one, anyway. Because they don’t want to. Because it’s a terrible idea.
They already make a bigger one: the LTE iPad mini. AND no expensive voice contract! (at least an issue here in the states). Granted my lifetime talk minutes all the way back to my 3Gs? 116 minutes.... so I may be biased.
It's business 101: why sell actual devices when you can just hype it up. Hype pays the bills. /s
Zero taste, just like the rest of Chinese advertising.
At least it’s another 300,000,000 sold for Apple.
Yeah, they’ll never be “forced” to make one, anyway. Because they don’t want to. Because it’s a terrible idea.
a) Anything is possible.
b) You'd be far from the first person to have called it.
Speaking for myself, I'd be fine with a slightly larger phone if it's thinner. I am also quite happy with the current size.
Speaking of morons:
http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=20346662&ref=https://www.google.ie/