HONG KONG (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and China Mobile (0941.HK) have called off talks to launch the U.S. firms popular iPhones in China, dashing speculation the device will hit the countrys store shelves soon.
Shares in China Mobile, the worlds largest cellular operator, sunk to an intraday low minutes after the news, sliding nearly 3 percent to HK130.00 in late afternoon trade.
The iPhone, a cellphone that accesses the Internet and plays music, sells for about 500 in the United States -- about double the average monthly salary in China. News that the two telecoms giants were in talks over the devices potential launch in the worlds largest telecoms arena helped Apples stock climb more than 10 percent on November 13.
"Our parent has terminated talks with Apple over the iPhone," a spokeswoman for listed China Mobile said, confirming several unsourced Internet reports. She would not elaborate.
Experts said last year that the iPhone would have to navigate a spate of technical, content and fee issues unique to China, including a standard revenue-sharing agreement that China Mobile would be sure to dislike, before any launch could proceed.
The iPhones -- one of the hottest gadgets to hit U.S. and European stores in 2007 -- might also be incompatible with China because of their "locked" SIM cards. That meant the device would not be able to piggyback another operators network.
Its unclear what Apple, which has declined to comment on the issue, planned now for China.
China Unicom (0762.HK) (CHU.N), the smaller of the countrys only two wireless carriers, said in 2007 it had no plans to bring the device into the country but was open to the idea.
(Reporting by Vinicy Chan; writing by Edwin Chan; editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
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