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Tag: china-mobile

  • China Mobile Boosts Subsidies While Waiting For Conclusion of iPhone Deal


    China Mobile, the world’s leading phone company, is set to use a lot of money on subsidies in the coming year as it endeavors to lure its customers to the new speedy service and boost the sale of smartphones by as much as 42%.

    The company is planning to sell 220 million smart devices in 2014 as compared to 155 million that was sold this year. Xi Guohua, the Chairman of China mobile indicated this in remarks made on the carrier’s micro blog account. The official China Daily newspaper reported that China mobile is yet to conclude a legal agreement with the Apple Company to sell the iPhone.

    Guohua Xi indicated that subsidies for handsets are set to expand from the 27 billion CNY or $4.4 billion that was spent in 2013. The carrier also hopes to get much more of the 759 million customers to the faster network with more expensive voice & data plans.

    According to the official Xinhua News Agency, China mobile has entered into agreements with handset manufactures Xiaomi Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd. (992) to provide smartphones running on the fourth-generation network.

    At a developer’s conference in Guangzhou, CEO Li Yue told developers that the 4G service provides a new future and will popularize different types of applications innovations. On December 4th, China mobile got regulatory approval to start commercial services on the 4G network.

    The China Daily wrote that Xi indicated that China mobile hopes to conclude the agreement with Apple as soon as possible. Apple, which currently does not make handsets that are compatible with the China mobile’s 3G networks, has agreed to make an iPhone that will run on the 4G network.

  • iPhone Is Shattered In China: Apple Fails To Win The Chinese Market

    Apple’s strategy of aligning the iPhone to a single mobile operator seems to have failed in China, where Samsung has achieved impressive market share. According to Bloomberg, iPhone has a 7.5% share of smartphones sales in China, while Samsung has 24.3% market share.

    This percentage makes Apple the fifth smartphone seller in the country, while Samsung ranks first. Samsung has sold phones through the three largest mobile operators even since 2009: China Unicom (about 200 million subscribers), China Telecom (129 million subscribers) and China Mobile (655 million subscribers).

    Apple, on the other hand, has sold exclusively through China Unicom, but two weeks ago began to sell its iPhone through China Telecom as well, which should increase the company’s market share. But China Telecom, although huge considering the Western standards, is the smallest of the three Chinese mobile operators.

    The “Father” of mobile communications in China, China Mobile, expects to start selling Apple’s iPhone only after the Cupertino company will release the LTE version, expected by the Chinese company later this year. About 15 million “decoded” iPhones are already in use in China Mobile’s network, without the operator to sell one.

    The reason why the market share is so important is that the smartphones have become a marketing platform, on which developers are building applications running on different operating systems. As for Windows, if a platform reaches a dominant market share, developers tend to “gravitate” around it. Thus, a risk for Apple in China (and worldwide as well) is that Android could become the dominant platform for application development.

    The operating system developed by Google, which supports the smartphones produced by Samsung, is the market leader in China with a share of almost 50%, even though Apple has regained an important part in the previous quarter thanks to the sales of iPhone 4S.

    It is likely that Apple’s sales through China Telecom to help reduce the difference between the Cupertino company and Samsung in China, but until will sell the smartphone through China Mobile, Samsung will remain the leading smartphone manufacturer in China.

  • Motorola: TD-LTE is Now a Commercial Reality

    Motorola has successfully deployed the world’s first indoor over-the-air (OTA) TD-LTE showcase network at the Expo Center at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. Together with China Mobile, Motorola is demonstrating end-to-end TD-LTE solutions at the Information and Communication Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo.

    Delegates are able to experience the real-life performance of TD-LTE via USB dongles, including video streaming, remote monitoring, video stream session and high-speed internet browsing.

    According to Motorola, a single TD-LTE USB dongle can stream 24 simultaneous video streams while supporting very high-speed internet browsing applications, at a total data rate of 20Mbps.

    A TD-LTE carrier in 20MHz can support transmission of a few hundred video streams simultaneously. Motorola claims that in the near future, TD-LTE subscribers will then be able to access a collection of high-bandwidth and low-latency internet applications including mobile TV, on-demand videos and video blogging anywhere.

    At the show, a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle carrying a camera and a laptop showcases real-time TD-LTE performance on the move. Live video captured by the moving camera can be viewed on other laptops and the main screen within the demonstration area via a TD-LTE USB dongle. Visitors are able to set up a video stream session between the laptop on the vehicle and the laptops within the demonstration area.

    The company informed that they will also integrate and launch the TD-LTE USB dongle that supports 2.3GHz at the event.

    According to Motorola, interest in TD-LTE continues to grow due to several key factors:

    • The tremendous growth of data use while mobile falling prices, more variety and improved ease of use in end user devices
    • Additional spectrum is necessary for serving more users
    • TDD spectrum traditionally auctioned for lower cost/radio frequency/population
    • Global and local roaming between FDD and TDD networks, allowing both networks to be used in the same geographic area.

    In effect, this ability to roam between FDD LTE and TD-LTE means operators can use TD-LTE networks to augment their FDD LTE network for more capacity or other applications such as video broadcasting, while operators choosing to use TD-LTE as their "main" network can still offer their subscribers the ability to roam to other operators’ FDD LTE networks in different countries.

    "We see the growing interest in TD-LTE as the technology delivers increased capacity and a lower cost per bit. Motorola is the leader in TD-LTE through trials and engagements with various operators around the world. The selection by China Mobile today once again demonstrates the reliability and maturity of our TD-LTE solution," said Dr. Mohammad Akhtar, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Networks business in Asia Pacific.

    “TD-LTE is now a commercial reality, making LTE a truly encompassing global technology standard,” he added.

  • Analyst upgrades estimates for iPhone production for 2008 to at least 17 million


    Apple will build at least 15 million 3G iPhones in 2008 bringing its total smartphone production to at least 17 million phones.
    At least that’s what Craig Berger, semiconductor analysts with Friedman Billings Ramsey, expects production levels to run to by the year-end.
    He has upgraded his figures after previously saying that Apple would build 13 million iPhones in 2008 (which, interestingly, included 2 million 2.5G Edge-only iPhones).
    His rationale for the change is because he thinks iPhone production in the third quarter will be higher than expected.
    In a report issued to clients, the Wall Street analyst said Q2 build volumes were 25 per cent lower than previous checks, “as Apple pushes production out a bit into Q3”.
    Specifically, Berger says that Apple will build 9 million iPhones in the third quarter, up from 2 million in the second quarter, and more than 5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter.
    His estimate for 2008 production of at least 17 million phones includes 2 million 2.5G iPhones.
    The analyst said Broadcom and Marvell stand to be amongst the largest beneficiaries of the increased iPhone build forecast, as they’re both believed to be supplying key components for the new iPhone 3G.
    In a research note, Berger said: “Apple continues to knock the cover off the ball, that its product cycle momentum is ramping and that any consumer spending malaise in the US or Europe has yet to impact Apple-related product demand.”
    The iPhone’s future in China, the world’s biggest handset market, has become a little clearer after it was confirmed that Apple is in talks over a possible distribution deal with China Mobile.