New Developments, Including iPhone Deal, Heat Up 3G, 4G 中国电信iPhone销售和日益升温的3G、4G最新进展
There’s a sudden mini-flood of news coming out of the telco space, with new signs that laggards China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom (HKEx: 768; NYSE: CHU) are becoming a bit more aggressive in the important 3G and 4G spaces. But as if to counter those signs, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA), the smallest of the country’s 3 telcos which also emerged as its most aggressive player last year, has just announced a long-awaited deal with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) that will see it start offering popular iPhones on the company’s 3G network early next month. Let’s start with the latest monthly 3G subscriber numbers, which show that Unicom is finally getting serious about that important part of its business, after losing share last year despite its strong technological advantages. The latest figures show Unicom had just over 32 million subscribers at the end of January, boosting its share of the market to 32 percent from 31 percent just a couple of months earlier. (company announcement) That gain is important, as it reverses a trend that saw Unicom’s share either stagnating or actually dropping lasts year as it suffered from management turmoil and shortages of handsets for its 3G network. It seems to have solved the handset problem for now, meaning we could see more market share gains in 2012, though lingering management issues could continue to hamper the company. Meantime, local media are reporting the telecoms regulator has official declared the commencement of second stage trials for TD-LTE, the 4G standard being developed by China Mobile. (English article) This announcement looks important since it affirms the regulator, after some initial hesitation early last year, is now fully supporting China Mobile’s plans to roll out a commercial 4G network as soon as next year, even though China Mobile itself has recently run into delays in its own trials for the technology. (previous post) Perhaps sensing that its 2 rivals were stealing some of its momentum, China Telecom has just come out with its own announcement, which has been rumored for months, that it will start to take orders for the popular iPhone 4S for use on its network starting on March 2, and start offering service for the handsets a week later. (company announcement) While highly anticipated, this deal is still big news for both China Telecom and the China market overall, as it formally ends a monopoly on iPhone sales in China held by Unicom since the launch of the popular Apple smartphones several years ago. China Telecom looks set to aggressively market the iPhone for its 3G network, which will hit profits in the short-term but could help it regain some of the momentum in the space it has recently lost to both Unicom and, to a lesser extent, to China Mobile.
Bottom line: China Unicom’s aggressive 3G push is yielding results with new share gains, but China Telecom could soon fight back with its newly announced iPhone deal.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ China Mobile Bets on Call Centers, Sees 4G Delay 中移动4G网络建设延期 押注新建呼叫中心
◙ Unicom, China Telecom in iPhone 4S 中国电信有望领先推出iPhone 4S Race
◙ TD-LTE Hits First Delay, More to Come? TD-LTE技术首次延期 未来还会更多？
