iPad or iPhone en route?

Apple has signed a business agreement with China Mobile, says Ticonderoga Securities' Brian White. The analyst notes that a local publication, the Chengdu Chinese Commercial News, is claiming the birth of a "cooperation agreement" between the two companies, though what products or services that might involve is still unknown. China Mobile is the country's largest wireless carrier, with about 70 percent of the country's subscribers, or 569.8 million.

While China Mobile could conceivably become a second Chinese iPhone carrier, such an arrangement is unlikely in the near future. Unlike all current iPhone carriers -- or even likely future ones such as Verizon -- China Mobile relies on a native 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, which would require a single-carrier iPhone model. The company could conceivably be planning to sell the iPad, but would be limited to selling Wi-Fi models.

by MacNN Staff