China Mobile is continuing to insist on managing the online sales for Apple's iPhone apps in China, so its negotiation with Apple about introducing the iPhone into China has now stalled.
Quoted by Chinese technology website ZOL.com.cn, an unnamed insider from China Mobile's research institute says China Mobile's chairman Wang Jianzhou revealed that over the past 18 months China Mobile had implemented three rounds of negotiations with high-level officers from Apple, including its CEO Steve Jobs and COO Tim Cook.
In the first round of talks, Apple asked 20% to 30% profit share from China Mobile's revenue from the iPhone, but the proposal was refused by China Mobile. In the second round, Apple suggested to sell iPhones to China Mobile at the price of USD600 per handset and asked China Mobile to provide subsidies for the iPhone services offered to users, but the two sides did not reach an agreement. And in the third round of discussions, Apple insisted on selling iPhone's application programs to its users directly via its online shop, which caused the latest end to negotiations.
According to Wang, Apple's request in the third round will threaten China Mobile's leading position in China's mobile phone Internet industry.
Wang adds that in other places around the world, users of the iPhone purchase apps with credit cards, but this model is not usable in China, because Chinese users prefer payment via their mobile phone accounts. This means China Mobile must participate in the management of the sales of iPhone apps in China.