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The Mystery Of Apple's China Mobile Deal No Show

This article is more than 10 years old.

Before yesterday's launch there was much talk that the iPhone 5c was all about Apple 's ability to encourage China Mobile to offer the phone to its subscribers. This deal hasn't been announced and there's a certain mystery about why it hasn't been. For the iPhone 5c, as it is and announced, won't work on China Mobile's current network yet there seems to have been official Chinese permission for it to do so. Quite what's going on here is anyone's guess at this point but allow me to explain.

The WSJ carries a piece about both of Apple's iPhone 5s and 5c gaining permission to run on the China Mobile network:

The approval marks the imminent opening of a huge new market for Apple. China Mobile, which has more than seven times the subscriber base of the U.S.'s largest wireless operator Verizon Wireless with 700 million users, has been unable to officially sell the iPhone in the past due to a proprietary network standard in China.

According to the website of China's Telecom Equipment Certification Center on Wednesday, Apple received 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 Ltd. and China Telecom Corp.

Apple gaining access to those 700 million subscribers would be a boon to the company, no doubt about that. And there have been problems with China Mobile itself being unwilling to undertake the subsidies and or marketing expenses that Apple likes to demand of those who sell its kit. But in this case there's something else. Looking at the spec sheet for the iPhone 5s we get this:

Model A1530*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20); TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40)

Bands 38, 39 and 40 are the ones used by China Mobile for its 4G service using the TD-LTE specification. On the iPhone 5c we get much the same:

Model A1529*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20); TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40)

Both phones will work on the upcoming 4G network from China Mobile. But that network is really only just parceling out the equipment budgets at the moment. It's not going to be a major influence until well into next year. As my colleague Chuck Jones points out:

There is also a Bloomberg article that a deal with China Mobile has yet to be announced (as of midnight West coast/3 am East coast Tuesday night/Wednesday morning). It does appear that Apple will not be announcing a partnership with China Mobile, at least at the launch of the iPhone 5c. There had been a lot of speculation that one would be announced with various analysts saying with almost certainty that it would happen at the Beijing event which was held nine hours after the main announcement.

However as I wrote in notes yesterday and the day before I had doubts since China Mobile is not far enough along in its LTE deployment.

We could just stop there and assume that Apple has decided that any China Mobile deal, if one can be reached, will be based upon launching the iPhone on that network as only a 2G or 4G device, with no 3G support at all. Which would be an interesting decision to say the least.

However, go back to that WSJ report: they are saying that Apple has approval for the iPhone on China Mobile as a 3G device as well.

So, either we've got some wires crossed here (sorry) in this story or there's something else to come. Apple have indeed got a variant that will work in China Mobile in 3G. One analyst (as background only I'm afraid) told me that:

The chip that handles the cellular baseband in the iPhone 5 is the Qualcomm MDM9615. This is capable of handling TD-SCDMA. The reason that the iPhone 5 is not compatible with China Mobile's network is the lack of suitable antennas - not a lack of a suitable chipset.

Which rather brings us back to Steve Jobs and people holding their phone the wrong way, doesn't it?

Apple could be waiting to do a deal with China Mobile on a 2 and 4G phone only and either of the two new phones will do that. Or, if the WSJ is correct about there being an iPhone that will handle TD-SCDMA, China Mobile's 3G system, then there's possibly another announcement to come.