{"id":167761,"date":"2014-01-15T18:22:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T02:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=167761"},"modified":"2014-01-15T20:24:24","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T04:24:24","slug":"apple-signals-plans-broaden-china-mobile-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2014\/01\/apple-signals-plans-broaden-china-mobile-alliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Plans to Deepen China Mobile Alliance"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Wall Street Journal reports from Beijing, where Apple CEO Tim Cook and China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua held a press briefing about a new deal<\/strong><\/a> between the American multinational and the world’s largest mobile network:<\/p>\n Apple<\/a>\u00a0Inc.’s deal to offer iPhones through\u00a0China Mobile<\/a>\u00a0Ltd.\u00a0represents a major coup for its chief executive\u00a0Tim Cook<\/a>, who signaled Wednesday the company plans to broaden its alliance with the Chinese carrier to grow in the world’s largest smartphone market.<\/p>\n The deal, which took six years of negotiations, is the last piece of the puzzle for Apple in China, officially making iPhones available through all three of the country’s state-run telecom carriers. With preorders for the iPhone through China Mobile already exceeding one million, the agreement will likely boost Apple’s sales in the coming year at a time when its earnings growth is slowing and its global smartphone market share is slipping.<\/p>\n For Apple, the stakes are high in China: the country is the world’s largest smartphone market by shipments and the deal with China Mobile, the biggest carrier, gives it access to an additional 700 million subscribers as well as new sale points. Apple is also currently behind market leader\u00a0Samsung Electronics<\/a>\u00a0Co.\u00a0005930.SE\u00a0-0.23%<\/a>\u00a0in terms of market share in China, ranking fifth in the third quarter, according to research firm Canalys.<\/p>\n […]\u00a0Despite the deal, Apple faces headwinds in China as high prices for its smartphones and relatively low carrier subsidies have led consumers to buy cheaper options that runGoogle<\/a>\u00a0Inc.\u00a0GOOG\u00a0-0.07%<\/a>\u00a0‘s Android operating system. According to Apple’s China website, the unsubsidized retail price of a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5S is 5,288 yuan ($870), while an iPhone 5C with the same storage capacity costs CNY4,488 ($738). In comparison, an Android-based phone with similar hardware from startup Xiaomi Inc. costs about $327. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a Wall Street Journal Digits blogpost of Cook’s response to press questions,\u00a0Cook notes a lack of concern over competition from cheaper domestic brands<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n Q: \u00a0Are you concerned about \u00a0growing competition from cheaper handsets in China?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cook: I\u2019ve always thought it was important for an individual and a company to have a North Star, something that doesn\u2019t change.\u00a0 Many many things can change but the North Star should be clear, and for Apple that\u2019s always been making the best products in the world. That\u2019s our strategy and that\u2019s not changing today or tomorrow or the next day or the next year.<\/p>\n When you really back up and look at what\u2019s happening in China the usage numbers are staggering. Fifty-seven percent of the mobile browsing in China is done on iOS devices. Now there are many different views of unit market share and you can choose to look at whichever one you think is most reputable, but for us that is not our North Star, we don\u2019t get up in the morning saying we want to sell the most, we get up saying we want to make and create the best, and so that\u2019s our strategy and it doesn\u2019t change. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A CNBC broadcast focuses on the (as of yet unannounced) subsidies that China Mobile will offer on their iPhones<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n