Apple Looking To Hire Beijing-Based China Mobile Expert
by Joe White
October 10, 2013
In a move further indicative of its impending iPhone deal with China Mobile, Apple has posted a job advertisement seeking a Beijing-based engineer able to "support and drive the carrier approval of mobile phones," and who possesses a sound knowledge of China Mobile's wireless standard.
The news reached us from Bloomberg, which draws attention to the job posting at Apple's Chinese-language website. In the advertisement, Apple notes that skills required of the successful applicant include "in-depth knowledge and experience with wireless systems including TD-LTE."
As a reminder, TD-LTE is the 4G LTE wireless standard used by China Mobile. The advertisement also calls for experience with WCDMA and CDMA, which are used by China Unicom and China Telecom, respectively.
Apple explains in the ad:
This role will be responsible for the overall management of the technical interface to all carriers in the Greater China region.As such, it would appear that Apple is gearing up to offer its iPhone handsets with all three of China's major carriers. Over the course of the last few months, increasing evidence has indeed indicated that a China Mobile iPhone deal is in the cards. This so far has included China Mobile iPhone posters (which appeared online), news of a licensing agreement reached between Apple's iPhone and China Mobile's wireless standard, and countless further speculative reports published by influential publications such as The Wall Street Journal, among others. Of course, Apple has been looking to sign a deal with China Mobile for some time - as far back as 2009, in fact. As the largest carrier operating in the world's biggest smartphone market, a China Mobile iPhone deal has the potential to score huge revenue for the Cupertino, Calif. company, and would help Apple's meagre share of China's smartphone market increase. In fact, recent analysis has indicated that the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c coupled with a potential China Mobile deal could see Apple's share of the country's smartphone market double by 2014. We'll keep you updated with further information as we receive it. In the meantime, see: Asynchronous Multiplayer Mode Reveals Itself In XCOM: Enemy Unknown For iOS, T-Mobile To Offer Global Data Plans Supporting 100+ Different Countries, and Zynga Updates Action Shooter Respawnables With New Halloween-Themed Content.