Mainland mobile growth set to surge on expected Apple-China Mobile deal

Smartphone shipments on the mainland are predicted to exceed more than 450 million units next year, following the issuance of 4G mobile licences and an expected deal allowing China Mobile to launch new iPhones next year.

That would represent about a 25 per cent increase from the estimated 360 million units shipped this year, a report from technology research firm IDC said on Tuesday.

James Yan, a senior analyst at IDC China, said Apple’s share in the world’s largest smartphone market, which has declined dramatically in the face of strong competition from Samsung Electronics and popular mainland brands, “is expected to remarkably improve with the launch of the new iPhones” on China Mobile’s network”.

China – comprising the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan – is Apple’s second-biggest market after the United States. Apple earlier this month staged a satellite event to introduce its new flagship iPhone 5s and lower-priced iPhone 5c in Beijing within hours from the US launch at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Apple has long been in negotiations to add China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator by subscribers, as a carrier-partner for the iPhone after China Unicom and China Telecom.

A report by Barclays said: “We see it as highly likely that an Apple-China Mobile partnership could be announced once 4G licences are issued in China and the timing on China Mobile’s commercial 4G service launch is clearer.”