iPhone to soon land at China Mobile, suggests leaked poster
China Mobile may be about to get custody of the iPhone 5S and 5C assuming a poster touting the new phones is accurate.
China's largest carrier may finally be ready to jump on the iPhone bandwagon.
A leaked poster allegedly from China Mobile promotes the iPhone 5S and 5C and promises full support for 3G/4G networks with speeds up to 100 megabits per second, according to Chinese blog site MyDrivers.com. The poster also throws in some marketing hype, touting that China Mobile will have "the strongest iPhone" in China.
Citing an anonymous source, MyDrivers.com claims that China Mobile will test the new iPhones by the end of September, move to beta mode by the end of October, and then market them in November.
At least one other tidbit suggests an impending launch of the new iPhones by China Mobile.
The carrier recently said that four smartphones supporting its TD-LTE network had won approval by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The iPhone was not announced among those four. However, sources inside the MIIT say that the iPhone 5S was approved, though Apple wanted to remain quiet about it, according to Phone Arena.
MIIT minister Miao Wei said that the first 4G licenses would be issued by year's end, but sources inside the ministry claim that those licenses could be granted as early as mid-October, according to UnwiredView. China Mobile's 4G TD-LTE network would then spring to life in November, allowing the iPhone and other 4G phones to hop onboard.
The iPhone is currently offered by China Unicom and China Telecom. But support from China Mobile would open up a vast number of new customers for Apple. The carrier currently has more than 740 million subscribers.