China Mobile Chairman says iPhone talks with are progressing

China Mobile has more than an astounding 740 million subscribers, making it the world’s largest wireless carrier. It is also a rare major carrier without ’s iconic smartphone. Part of it is politics – Chinese carriers reluctantly agree to revenue-sharing schemes with foreign companies.China is also moving away from high phone subsidies that impact short-term profitability, but there surely must be some plain stubbornness as both and China Mobile reportedly reptedly bringonerous termsto the negotiating table.Although we hrd multiple times in the past that the two sides were about to rch some sort of resolution, the iPhone distribution dl never came to be. ’s bossTim Cook recently metwith China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua and now Reuters reports that aChina Mobile tie-up is closer than ever…According toReuters, the telco is“keen on”selling the iPhone, with the remaining issues being“commercial and technical”in nature, alluding the two giants may have finally met halfway regarding terms of business.The stars may be aligning for a long-awaited dl between Inc and China Mobile Ltd, the world’s biggest mobile carrier, that could help the iPhone maker claw back lost ground in its most important growth market.“We are actively negotiating and both sides are keen,”China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua told reporters on Thursday after announcing half-yr results.“There are still some commercial and technology issues that need time to resolve,”he added.The news gathering organization notes new Qualcomm chips will allow theiPhone 5Sand the rumoredmid-tieriPhone 5Ctooperate on China’s“obscure networks,”by which Reuters mnsTD-SMA 3G radio technology. has so far ducked a dl with China Mobile as this would have required a redesign inside the iPhone to work on the operator’s inferior TD-SMA 3G technology.Although Chinais expected to grant 4G TD-LTE s by the end of this yr“that favor the biggest of its domestic mobile operators,”support for 3G TD-SMA is the to any handset vendor’s hope of tapping China Mobile’s vast pool of customers.Again, the new Qualcomm chips support 3G TD-SMA, as well asvirtually all LTE flavors, includingTD-LTE and the more widely-used FDD-LTE.The report also states that and China Mobile couldn’t come to terms because the latter has been reluctant to commit to the“huge cost of marketing and subsidizing sales of the expensive iPhone”.That’s why it’s so important for to offer a new iPhone model that can be sold unsubsidized and off-contract in countries like China, without costing a fortune.While ’s handset remainsthe best selling smartphone in the United States, not everyone owns (or can afford) a high-end smartphone – and not everyone lives in the US. usually keeps past two iPhone erations at reduced prices alongside the current-eration model. It is important to note that the”free” iPhone 4 is not rlly free because carriers tie the $0 device to a two-yr contract.Right now, ’s cest off-contract iPhone is the$450 iPhone 4. is expected to relse the iPhone 5S upgrade and possibly a rumored plastic iPhone at its upcomingSeptember 10 media event.