China Mobile: Apple Drops Revenue Sharing Demand, China iPhone Deal Closer

Darn, I know deep down inside that if they release it, I will buy it. Damn you steve jobs! Thank you steve jobs!

China Mobile says that talks geared towards bring Apple's iPhone to mainland China....

Emphasized by this saying "bring" Apple's iPhone to mainland China, it's rather amusing to me that there are still pending notable difficulties and "practical issues" in releasing the iPhone to its place of manufacture, which you'd think ought to be easier than places on the opposite side of the planet. We've definitely got a little ways to go on this whole global economy thing.

China Unicom to sell 3G iPhone in August - Rumor Link

"A rumor has been going through the Chinese Web that China Unicom
(CHU), one of the major mobile service providers in China, has signed
with Apple (AAPL) and will introduce Apple's 3G iPhone to the Chinese
mainland in August this year."

That's 160 million subscribers to be (eventually) added to the list. Just to put it into context, it equals or exceeds the whole Telefonica or America Movil network. Check it out at wikipedia

And China Mobile will be eventually added too, that'll be another 370 million

Come on, who volunteers to do some number crunching?! 8-)

Quote member from AI.

Imagine if China Mobile is done deal, there will be more iPhone users in China than any other countries combined!

All this means is we will finally see device prices HIGHER in China than USA since there is no revenue sharing. Reverse globalization is improving.

Rocketman

Quote member from AI.

Imagine if China Mobile is done deal, there will be more iPhone users in China than any other countries combined!

Apple can easily achieve its goal of selling 10 million iPhones.

After that deal goes through, it's money in the bank for Apple. Cha Ching!

After that deal goes through, it's money in the bank for Apple. Cha Ching!

I think Apple might require some more than just Cha-Ching or even QuickBooks.

After that deal goes through, it's money in the bank for Apple. Cha Ching!

That's most likely true. But are there other precedents for Apple giving up so much ground so quickly? Jobs originally set out to revolutionize the mobile phone industry but now he seems to be giving in to it, uncharacteristically ceding control and reinforcing the very policies for which he originally criticized the mobile phone providers.

I hope he's still doing physically well. It just isn't like him to abandon a revolution, especially one that seemed to be working. The iPhone is still an elegant merging of well-designed hardware and software. But that alone may not be enough to get customers to switch from their current providers. I really wish that the iPhone had been released without the exclusive AT&T deal in the U.S. I would have already gotten one. But I guess even if there's an exclusive deal in China, the much larger population base will still spell a lot of revenue for Apple.

That's most likely true. But are there other precedents for Apple giving up so much ground so quickly? Jobs originally set out to revolutionize the mobile phone industry but now he seems to be giving in to it, uncharacteristically ceding control and reinforcing the very policies for which he originally criticized the mobile phone providers.

I hope he's still doing physically well. It just isn't like him to abandon a revolution, especially one that seemed to be working. The iPhone is still an elegant merging of well-designed hardware and software. But that alone may not be enough to get customers to switch from their current providers. I really wish that the iPhone had been released without the exclusive AT&T deal in the U.S. I would have already gotten one. But I guess even if there's an exclusive deal in China, the much larger population base will still spell a lot of revenue for Apple.

It's just good that Apple is forced to walk away from its initial buisness model - which is only about control and milking money. The iPhone is a remarkable product, but I see no point in praising Apple/Steve... since they could clearly have gone a much better path with selling and distributing it.

The report indicates that the deal would be similar to traditional handset distribution models where the carrier subsidizes the cost to make the phone cheaper and spur sales.

Apple has recently moved to this model with the iPhone 3G versus the original iPhone which was not subsidized but Apple received a cut of the monthly service plans.

To a carrier, it's the same cost, whether part of their monthly income goes to Apple (aka revenue sharing) or to the customer (aka subsidy).

It's just that now, the customer gets the benefit instead of Apple. I think carriers like that better, as it'll mean more customers can buy in.