Apple shares opened sharply higher on Monday as investors cheered its deal with China Mobile to bring iPhones to the world’s largest mobile phone network.
"China is an extremely important market for Apple and our partnership with China Mobile presents us the opportunity to bring iPhone to the customers of the world’s largest network," Apple chief Tim Cook said in a joint announcement Sunday.
Shares in Apple were up over 3 per cent in early trading, to around $565.
China Mobile, with approximately 760 million customers, was one of the last large mobile phone providers that did not offer iPhones. The agreement comes just as China Mobile is set to unveil the world’s largest 4G network.
Per the agreement, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available in both China Mobile and Apple retail stores throughout mainland China from January 17.
The agreement provides Apple with a hefty push into the world’s largest mobile phone marketplace. The company, based in Cupertino, California, will compete with cheaper Chinese smartphone providers such as Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei.
China Mobile boasts 700 million customers. Until now the iPhone has been available in China only through the much smaller networks China Unicom and China Telecom. Apple will be building a special version of the iPhone for China Mobile which uses the a unique TD-SCDMA 3G mobile technology.