Apple has expressed full support for China Mobile’s TD-LTE standard and is discussing the possibility of an iPhone tie-up, the operator’s chairman has revealed.
Wang Jianzhou told journalists that talks with Apple are moving forward due to hopes the vendor could adapt the CDMA iPhone to run on China’s TD-SCDMA standard, which in turn would pave the way for a unit running the country’s 4G standard.
The carrier has been in negotiations with Apple for two years, however the discussions were stymied by China Mobile’s apparent reluctance to launch an app store China Daily reports.
Apple’s CDMA-only unit could be sold via rival China Telecom, however the vendor has a strong incentive to affiliate itself with China Mobile because it is the world’s largest carrier by subscriber base.
Despite the iPhone’s success across other parts of the world, Apple’s presence in China’s app store landscape remains woefully small compared to Nokia, Samsung and operator offerings.
A report from iResearch showed Apple’s app store held just 9.4% market share in China, while Nokia’s Ovi store laid claim to 65.2%.
Apple’s iPhone is currently available in China exclusively through GSM operator China Unicom, the nation's second-largest carrier.