Apple should market a good iPhone 3G capable of surfing on the TD-SCDMA network of China Mobile, the largest operator in the world. The picture of an iPhone runs on web sites in China that shows a smartphone with a version number yet reported (6/10/01), and even with the operator logo engraved on the top right — the first time for an iPhone as we know, Apple has always refused to allow operators logos appear on the phone.
When it comes to the future iPhone 5, attention, speculation … Yet we know that Tim Cook, Apple’s acting CEO – since the beginning of the new sick leave Steve Jobs – was photographed in China at the headquarters of China Mobile in company of 7 or 8 people. A few hours later, an employee of the Chinese operator, announced on a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that China Mobile would be part of the first operators to get the iPhone 5 later in the year.
The TD-SCDMA is the communication standard that thrives only in China, and China Mobile is on track to begin testing 4G technology TD-LTE on its network. Making iPhone compatible would be a great turning point for Apple’s trade relations to China.
China Mobile has a base of 611 million mobile customers, owns 68% of the Chinese market, which has enormous potential for Apple iPhone… and it already has 4 million iPhone users, even if it does not support TD-SCDMA: that’s why Apple is willing to work on a modified version of its smartphone.