The Good news for Apple is very Good indeed. Apple has a deal with China Mobile for selling Apple iPhones.Given that China Mobile has huge market share this should significantly impact Apple iPhone sales in China. However, the bottom line details are still a little murky depending on the contract. What is most remarkable is how long it took for Apple to get a deal with China Mobile.
Consider that Steve Jobs almost exclusive use of Chinese factories for production has been a double boon to Chinese electronic manufacturing firms first for the sheer volume and second because of the Walmart effect – Apple’s operations legitimized the move to Chinese electronic manufacturing for a whole range of top tier, world-wide firms. And then Steve Jobs in February 2011 applied the coup de grace when he bluntly told President Obama looking desperately for new job opportunities that the jobs were never coming back to the US because US workers, wages, working ethic could not match the Chinese. Given that ringing endorsement, one would think there would be an impetus for China Mobile to sign immediately on the dotted line.
The Bad News
Admittedly this is a small sample. But it is a more frequent occurrence among acquaintances. And of course the Comscore numbers bear out the trend as Android continues to move ahead in the US smartphone Market. Will the China deal more than offset the trickle down elsewhere? Good investment question.