Apple Inc said it has signed a long-awaited agreement with China Mobile Ltd to sell iPhones through the world's biggest network of mobile phone users. In a deal that could add billions of dollars to its revenue, Apple said its smartphones will be available to China Mobile customers starting Jan. 17. Pricing and availability details for the iPhone 5S and 5C lines will be disclosed at a later date, it said in a statement.China Mobile, which has about 760 million customers, will begin registering orders for iPhone from Dec. 25, the company said on its account on the Sina-Weibo micro-blogging service.The tie-up between the pair, in the United States company's second-largest market after its home turf, provides a much-needed boost for Apple in a market where it's trailing rivals. It will also give Apple extra firepower in its increasing global rivalry with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.Apple didn't disclose financial terms of the agreement. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said in its statement that China is an extremely important market for the Cupertino-based company.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL traded higher by 0.84% or $4.56/share to $549.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $385.10 and as high as $575.14. On average, 11558700 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 15586205.
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