From the history of Apple: iPhone takes China by storm

In December 2013, after months of false alarms, announced Apple signed an agreement with China Mobile - the world's largest telecommunications operator. It was definitely not an insignificant contract for Apple - the Chinese market meant 760 million potential iPhone buyers at the time, and Tim Cook had high hopes for China.

"China is an extremely important market for Apple, and our partnership with China Mobile represents an opportunity for us to bring iPhone to customers on the world's largest network," Tim Cook said in an official statement at the time. "These customers are an enthusiastic, fast-growing group in China, and we can't think of a better way to welcome the Chinese New Year than by enabling every China Mobile customer to own an iPhone."

It was a step that everyone had been preparing for for a very long time. Apple has been negotiating with China since the first iPhone was released, but negotiations have collapsed over Apple's terms, which required revenue sharing. But the demand from customers was indisputable. In 2008 – one year after the release of the first iPhone – BusinessWeek magazine reported that 400 iPhones had been illegally unlocked and were being used by a Chinese mobile operator.

Apple's negotiations with China Mobile took a positive turn in 2013, when Tim Cook met with China Mobile chairman Xi Guohu to discuss "cooperation matters" between the two companies.

Chinese compromises

Tim Cook publicly noted that new smartphones from Apple were designed with the requirements of the Chinese market in mind. One of the main features of this decision was a significant increase in the display diagonal of the new iPhones. In a way, Apple denied Steve Jobs' long-standing dislike for larger phones, which he complained didn't fit well in his hand. The 5,5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has become one of the most popular phablets in Asia.

Penetration into the Chinese market, however, was not completely problem-free for Apple. 760 million potential customers is a respectable number that could make the combination of Apple + China Mobile one of the biggest deals in the modern history of the apple company. But it was necessary to take into account that only a fraction of this number of users could afford an iPhone.

The iPhone 5c and later the iPhone SE were a financially tolerable "path to Apple" for many customers, but the apple company never aimed at the market with cheaper smartphones. This has allowed manufacturers such as Xiaomi – often dubbed the “Chinese Apple” – to create affordable variations of Apple products and gain significant market share.

In addition, Apple also faced problems with the government in China. In 2014, Apple had to switch to China Telecom's servers instead of its own in order for iCloud to continue working in the country. Likewise, Apple has been forced to accept the Chinese government's demands to conduct network security assessments on all Apple products before they can be imported into the country. The Chinese government has also banned iTunes Movies and the iBooks Store from operating in the country.

But there are two sides to every coin, and the fact remains that the deal with China Mobile made the iPhone available to the Chinese almost on schedule. As a result, China is currently Apple's most profitable market in the world.