Apple Reaches Deal in China

Apple Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.) has struck a deal to sell its iPhones in China through the telecommunications company China Mobile Ltd. (Beijing).

According to Bloomberg News, the culmination of six years of negotiations gives both companies an opportunity to fight declining share in a market of 1.2 billion wireless subscribers.

China Mobile will sell the iPhone 5s and 5c models in its retail stores starting Jan. 17, 2014. The phones for China Mobile’s network of 763 million users will also be available in Apple’s retail stores in China under the multi-year accord.

Apple had been selling its iPhones through China Unicom Ltd. (Hong Kong), the nation’s second-largest carrier, and third-ranked China Telecom Corp. (Beijing). But China Mobile has 62 percent of the country’s total mobile subscribers, though that figure is down from 64 percent a year earlier.

Apple has only 6 percent of the Chinese market, trailing Samsung Group (Seoul), Lenovo Group (Beijing), China Wireless Technologies (Shenzhen, China) and Huawei Technologies Co. (Shenzhen). Bloomberg says another home-grown phone maker, Xiaomi Corp. (Beijing), is also gaining traction.

Apple’s market strength has been limited by the cost of the iPhone, which sells for more than $700 in China, without discounts and subsidies.