Apple is driving 4G adoption on China Mobile’s network, as almost half of the 2.8 million 4G users on the world’s largest wireless carrier are iPhone users.
China Mobile CEO Li Yue revealed his company’s latest figures this week, according to rthk.hk, noting Apple’s continued success since it launched on the carrier earlier this year. The figures do not include iPhone users who might not be on the carrier’s fledgling 4G network.
Even though China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile carrier, China Mobile was slow to add LTE service to its network, and as much is now playing catch-up with smaller rivals China Telecom and China Unicom. Most China Mobile users are still on the slower 3G networks, 417 million users at the end of 2013. Apple’s iPhones are compatible with both 3G and 4G networks.
As the number of 4G subscribers on China Mobile continues to grow, Apple maintains its position as the most popular LTE smartphone on the network.
Apple’s deal with China Mobile was long-anticipated, and was just made official earlier this year, when the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c became available via the carrier.
