CDMA New Technology in China
China Telecom and Apple have agreed to a partnership which will bring the iPhone to China's CDMA mobile network. There are over 100 million subscribers on the China Telecom network which may have access to the iPhone by late 2012. Apple may be developing a lower cost model of the iPhone for the China market that would be available with a pre-paid option.
Currently, over 90% of the Chinese mobile market is pre-paid, and Apple already has agreements to sell in the country through China Unicom and is possibly working on a deal with China Mobile as well. Investors welcome this news as another reason to go long Apple stock, as the opportunity presented by the China market is huge. The demand for Apple phones in China is so large that a black market is already thriving, with an estimate d4 million iPhones operating illegally on the China Mobile network.