Apple and China say “let’s call the whole thing off”

China and its population of over 1 billion are certainly an attractive market for Apple when it comes to the iPhone and the company has been in talks with the country’s largest cell phone operator, China Mobile, for a few months now. At the time, there were whispers that China Mobile was not thrilled with the idea of sharing its revenue, a deal that Apple’s reputedly managed to strike with its partners in every other country where the iPhone is offered.

It seems that issue was, in fact, a dealbreaker, as China Mobile announced this morning that they’ve broken off talks with Apple. No official reason has been given, but the buzz is high that the shared revenue was the impetus behind the breakup.

So now what? Apple’s stated goal was to expand into Asia in 2008. There’s certainly the potential for a new round of talks to be launched (China Mobile’s stock dropped this morning after the announcement), or, should they refuse, the second-largest provider, China Unicom, has also said they might be interested in playing ball with Apple.

Category: News

Posted by Dan Moren on Jan 14 2008, 1:25 PM ET

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