Talk about mixed messages: while China Mobile seemed pretty clear in announcing that they’d rejected the iPhone and broken off talks with Apple regarding sole-carrier status in the customer-rich Chinese market, Steve Jobs has revealed that discussions are still underway and that the manufacturer is still interested in reaching a deal with the operator.
It now looks as though the spat was merely posturing between the players, with China Mobile likely hoping that their taking a step back from the negotiating table would encourage Apple to lower their contentious revenue demands.
China Mobile is believed to be confident that they have “the upper hand” in the deal, with subscribers numbering 350 million.
[via UberGizmo]
Nobody commented on the curious timing of China Mobil’s announcement barely a day before the Macworld keynote – had we all forgotten how China has been the master of strongarming? The Chinese corporate mentality is continuous with Maoism…
The guys at UberGiz got it part right. Talks haven’t “ended”
CNBC’s Jim Goldman asked Jobs about the reported “end to talks” with China Mobile. According to Goldman, Steve Jobs said there were no such ongoing negotiations. He noted that there has been only one China Mobile representative that has visited Apple’s Cupertino HQ and that meeting took place months ago.
My guess … There have been some preliminary chats but “negotiations” (serious back and forth over a contract) have yet to happen.
AT&T made an iPhone deal with Apple without the benefit of dissecting the product. They put their faith in Apple and were rewarded. China Mobile may not take this approach. China and China Mobile have made their new 3G (TD-SCDMA) network a priority (albeit a full-scale TD-SCDMA launch will likely be deferred until 2009). China Mobile will demand that the new iPhone support their new 3G network. And China Mobile may want “hands on” testing time with the new 3G iPhone before they hold serious contract talks. Apple almost certainly has the new 3G model under lock-in-key in Cupertino. But Apple may not be ready to let China Mobile engineers run network tests … just yet.
There is clearly more to this story so stay tuned.
From the Jim Goldman’s interview with Steve Jobs …
Regarding China Mobile
Steve Jobs: “It’s very strange … we’ve met once with one of their representatives. There have never been any ‘hot and heavy’ discussions either ‘on’ or ‘off’ … someone is just making this stuff up.”
~ Dan
http://idannyb.wordpress.com/