Apple, China Mobile sign pact

Apple Inc's partnership with China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest telecom carrier by subscriber base, is likely to mean a significant sales bounce for the United States-based smartphone vendor next year, analysts said.

On Monday, Apple and China Mobile officially announced a multiyear agreement to bring iPhone smartphones to the mainland market. China Mobile, with a subscriber base of 760 million, or seven times as big as that of Verizon Wireless, is the last Chinese telecom operator to introduce iPhone handsets on contract in China.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the nation's second-biggest telecom carrier, became the first operator to introduce iPhone devices on its network in mid-2009. China Telecom Corp Ltd, the smallest wireless carrier, tied the knot with Apple at the beginning of 2012.