China Mobile Teases Imminent Launch Of iPhone Preorders At Its Beijing Website

It looks like preorders for the China Mobile iPhone are about to begin. Because over at the carrier's Beijing website, a redesign featuring both an image of Apple's iPhone 5s and a golden apple have recently appeared.

As you can see, the website (pictured above) advertises the Dec. 18 launch of China Mobile's TD-LTE network, and at the center of the Web page Apple's iPhone 5s in space gray, silver, and gold are presented to visitors. The text reads “something worth waiting for” and adds that preorders are “only one sleep away,” however whether the date hinted at is Dec. 12 or tomorrow, Dec. 13, isn't known.

Previously, a China Mobile representative (speaking to The Wall Street Journal) confirmed that preorders for the iPhone are set to begin on Dec. 12, and that the handset would launch with the carrier on Dec. 18. If so, we'll update this article with further information as we receive it.

As we've said before, a China Mobile iPhone deal is incredibly important for Apple: not only could it help expand the Cupertino, Calif. company's share of China's smartphone market, but in turn a deal with the carrier, which boasts more than 740 million subscribers, would generate huge revenue for Apple.

That being said, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are nevertheless selling well with China Unicom and China Telecom; sales of both handsets have boosted Apple's share of China's smartphone market, and for the month of October Apple was the country's third most-popular smartphone manufacturer, coming in behind only Samsung and Lenovo.

For now, it looks like a China Mobile iPhone is certainly incoming. As mentioned, we'll keep you updated with further information as we receive it.

In the meantime, see: Loom Gains Video Playback Support, Lets You Get Free Extra Space By Inviting Friends, Ahead Of China Mobile Deal, Apple Grabs A Bigger Share Of China's Smartphone Market, and Apple's New iPads Are Dominating The Tablet Market In Japan.