Chinese Officials License iPhone to Run on China Mobile's Wireless Standard

A Chinese regulatory body has given Apple the final license necessary for the iPhone to run on China Mobile’s wireless standard, reports The Wall Street Journal. The approval comes after Apple’s announcement yesterday of the new iPhone 5s and lower-cost iPhone 5c, both of which support the TD-LTE standard used by China Mobile, the world’s biggest carrier with over 700 million users.

china_iphone_lineup_2013

According to the website of China's Telecom Equipment Certification Center Wednesday, Apple received what's called a "network access license" for a handset resembling the iPhone that runs on the mobile standards used by China Mobile for third and fourth generation cellular services. Other licenses were given to Apple for handsets running the technology used by both China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp.

A deal between China Mobile and Apple has reportedly long been in the works, with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua and Apple CEO Tim Cook meeting in July to discuss “matters of cooperation”, with the former indicating that he felt optimistic about a potential deal leading up to the announcement of the new phones. Last week, The Wall Street Journal also reported that Apple was preparing to ship the new lower-cost iPhone 5c to the carrier, suggesting a deal between the two companies had indeed been reached.

The new iPhone 5s and the lower-cost iPhone 5c will be available in stores in China, the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the UK starting on September 20.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

absurdamerica Avatar
147 months ago
How can you guys even be serious? The 5C isn't priced any differently than the previous options. It may cost less to build, but that's about it.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fullauto Avatar
147 months ago
At $739 (16GB) and $869 (32GB) for the 5C here in Australia, I fail to see how it's the cheaper alternative. Pretty sure I paid $950 for the 4S back in the day.. 64GB 5S $1,129! You can buy macbook airs (basic) for $799 at the moment locally.. I just don't see how the price is justified..
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFather Avatar
147 months ago
Deleted.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmerchlinsky Avatar
147 months ago
The iPhone 5C is a "low cost" phone, it's just not a "low price" phone.

Here's the dynamic... the feature differences from year to year are beoming less dramatic. So less US customers are opting for the $200 premium phone and more are opting for $100 yr old phone or the free 2-yr old phone. Here's the dirty little secret. The manufacturing cost of all of Apple's phones (up to now) are about the same. It costs Apple just as much to make a 4S as it does a 5S. So Apple's margins are getting whacked by the shift to the older phones. Apple's response is to decontent the older phones to improve those margins. Give the customer less for the same price.

So the 5C is all about improving margins. What the 5C is most resoundingly NOT, is a low price phone targetted towards emerging markets. Apple continues to neglect that segment. Cook has had a clear strategic decision to make, margins or market share, and he's made it.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazard Avatar
147 months ago
A deal with China Mobile has not been announced, yet, despite all the hype about it. The market is disappointed.
Because the market knows that a China Mobile deal isn't going to help much when you price the 5C at 4488 yuan ($733).

UBS cited a survey of 35,000 Chinese consumers conducted by ChinaDaily.com that indicated only 2.6 percent of respondents would consider buying the cheaper iPhone at the $549 level. With a price point nearly $200 more, don't expect the 5C to be a hit there.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69650 Avatar
147 months ago
I believe 5C is purely targeted for China

Why do people keep saying that? It's complete nonsense. It's targeted at anyone and everyone who simply want a cheaper iPhone. It's going to be on sale worldwide.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)