Apple Seeks Bigger Bite of China's Massive Mobile Market Apple has struck a long-awaited, multi-year deal with China Mobile to make its illustrious devices available to the largest mobile network in the world.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In America, Apple's iPhone ushered in a new era of smart devices, revolutionizing the digital landscape as we know it--and racking up billions in the process. But will the product, launched roughly six years ago, have a similar impact on the rapidly expansive Chinese market?
In a highly-anticipated, multi-year deal inked with China Mobile, Apple will roll out its latest iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on January 17 to the carrier's network of 760 million consumers--the largest wireless network in the world.
While Apple has already sold approximately 23 million iPhones in China through the second and third largest carriers in the country--China Unicom and China Telecom, respectively--China Mobile more than doubles the reach of both competitors combined.
Related: Apple Becomes China's Third Highest Smartphone Distributor
Though the Cupertino-headquartered brand boasts an almost-mythical status stateside and throughout much of Europe, its late arrival to China means steep competition from locally-manufactured, cheaper devices that utilize the nemesis Android operating system.
And in China--unlike in America--there are actually more mobile applications available for Android users than there are in Apple's App Store.
Pricing details will be available at a later date, Apple said, and devices will be sold within its own retail stores as well as China Mobile locations. Customers can pre-register as of Christmas day on China Mobile's website.
"We can't think of a better way to welcome in the Chinese New Year than getting an iPhone into the hands of every China Mobile customer who wants one," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
Related: How to Do Business in China