Apple said to ink deal with China Mobile, adding 760 million potential iPhone customers

Apple has reportedly signed a deal with the world's largest mobile phone service provider, China Mobile, although a conflicting report says that the telco giant is "still negotiating" with Cupertino. The original report comes from The Wall Street Journal, citing that ever-loquacious "person familiar with the situation." A …

[LarsG]

Will it be cheaper and will it be region locked?

If it is substantially cheaper I'd assume they will region lock it.... Samsung Style.

OR IS A WAY TO GET RID OF SOME OF THOSE UNSOLD 5C's?

[Youvegottobe Joking]

Lots of knock off jesus phones in China

Iphones are a bit of a status symbol in china and the phone4s sold loads, not everyone could afford it but people bent over backwards to buy one. Remember the fake apple stores? I wonder how many were selling fake gear,,,,

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/china/wages

china average yearly wages according to this site is 46769 yuan, or £4300.

The cost of living in China has gone through the roof:

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=China

[SuccessCase]

"iPhone sales were up 25 per cent year-on-year, he noted, but that was from a rather small base in the previous year."

Rather small base... Can you name a single line of devices that has sold more units than the iPhone and made more profit in the history of the world, ever?

No. Thought not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Verizon average revenue per account of $156?

That must include corporate accounts, even including family plans wouldn't pull the average near that high. That makes the number rather useless for comparing with China Mobile, as it would depend on the mix of corporate/family plans each has.

Though undoubtedly Verizon has a much higher ARPA than China Mobile. Even if everyone in China had incomes comparable to Americans, Verizon charges more for equivalent service compared to Verizon. US providers charge more than anywhere else in the world that I'm aware of, as a matter of fact - even if you take subsidies into account.