The Wall Street Journal reports China Mobile has announced it will begin taking preorders for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c this Thursday, December 12th. Preorders will be taken via the company’s website, and at some of its locations in Shanghai.
The move was revealed through a screenshot of a section on the company’s website that invited customers to pre-order the iPhone 5s and other smartphones with a “4G is here” slogan, with the information being followed up by a customer service representative.
“Customers can begin to preorder for our new 4G services from Dec. 12 through the company’s website and some dedicated branches in Shanghai. But we will only start providing commercial 4G services after Dec. 18,” the customer services operator said.
It was reported last week that Apple and China Mobile had finally reached a deal that would see the world’s largest wireless carrier offering the iPhone on its network. However, a China Mobile spokesperson later told Reuters that the two companies were still in negotiations. The two companies have been in talks for several years.
The deal has been widely expected ever since September, when the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, the first Apple handsets to support China Mobile’s TD-LTE standards, were released.
