China Mobile is the largest cellular network operator in the work with respect to the number of customers they have. So far, China Mobile has refused to sell iPhones, likely due to the tough demands that Apple puts on all resellers, such as strict limitations on the iPhone supply, fixed prices and also that all marketing costs are to be covered by the operator itself.
However, after significant negotiations, it finally does appear that Apple and China Mobile will soon start a collaboration, as reported by Reuters.
In a comment by the CEO of China Mobile, Guohua Xi said that negotiations are proceeding very rapidly but certain technical and commercial aspects remain to be finalized. The commercial aspects most likely relates to the strict control of the ecosystem that Apple imposes.
The technical aspects mainly revolve around that the iPhones sold in China requires TD-SCDMA to be compatible with the 3G network of China Mobile. This means that a new 3G chip is required in the iPhones sold for China Mobile customers.
In light of the above, it is not surprising to believe that the, so called, budget iPhone 5C may very well be geared towards the Chinese market, which would mean that the letter "C" would stand for China and not for Color as has been the common belief so far.
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