After years of rumors, it seems as if Apple (AAPL 1.00%) will finally get its iPhone sold through China's largest wireless carrier.
A source told The Wall Street Journal that China Mobile (CHL) will announce iPhone availability to its massive user base at a media event later this month. It's a pretty big deal. Even if less than a quarter of China Mobile's 759.3 million mobile customers are data-slurping 3G customers, China is a market that will continue to grow quickly.
Android will continue to be the platform of choice in China. It's cheap. It has wide developer support. However, Apple's products have been popular in China. Having a foothold through China Mobile will help Apple increase its global reach at a time when growth has slowed for the consumer-tech titan.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- How many profitable stocks do you know that are trading below a buck? That's where Plug Power (PLUG 9.92%) began the trading week, but it didn't end that way after the fuel-cell maker announced that it will be profitable next year.
- Tesla Motors (TSLA -1.57%) won back some skeptics this week after German authorities cleared Tesla of the recent Model S fires that have hurt the electric-car maker's reputation. Now if only Tesla could find a way to keep this week's recharged share price going after suffering declines in six of the eight previous weeks.
- Baidu (BIDU 1.16%) shares hit a new all-time high, and then China moved to open up the country's first 4G network for commercial purposes, something that should benefit Baidu's recent push into digital video.
