China Opens Doors for iPhone; Apple Wants In

by Jody Mitoma on May 27, 2008 at 3:24 pm

According to FORTUNE Apple 2.0:

China Mobile lost more than $25 billion in market value after the government announced over the weekend that it was merging two smaller competitors in an effort to weaken the giant carrier’s hold on the country’s cell phone business — prompting Goldman Sachs to issue a rare “sell” rating on China Mobile’s shares.

Markets sank across the Pacific Rim on the news. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.4%. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.1%. Japan’s Nikkei slumped 2.3% to its lowest level in a month

Steve Jobs has been trying to negotiate an iPhone deal with China Mobile since last fall, and to this day, he hasn’t had any success. China has a total of over 583 million cellphone subscribers, taking over 2/3rd’s of the entire world’s cellphone holders.

A Chinese statement, which was issued on Monday, said that the mergers would set in motion the awarding of licenses for 3G service that supports wireless video, web surfing, and other services, according to an AP report.

That report added that the restructuring would create opportunities for foreign equipment vendors such as Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia and Siemens.

Here’s to hoping Apple gets in on this new opportunity, and begins selling the iPhone in China.

(Source: FORTUNE Apple 2.0)