Sales of the Apple iPhone in China have been held back by the lack of an agreement between Apple and China Mobile to produce a version of the device that would run on the carrier's proprietary 3G pipeline. After all, China is the world's largest cellphone market and China Mobile is the largest carrier on Earth. But Apple does have a plan to increase sales of the iPhone in China. By offering financing on online sales of the device, Apple hopes to get Chinese phone buyers to turn away from their current love, the Nokia Lumia 920.
Recommended For You
To get the financing, buyers must have a China Merchant Bank credit card
According to the report, Apple will offer the Chinese interest rates between 0% and 8.5% depending on the plan chosen. Buyers can finance over 12, 18 or 24 months and must open a credit card account with China Merchants Bank Co. As we previously noted, this financing option is good only for online orders, which must range from $50 to $5,000.
Recommended For You
Currently, the Apple iPhone is only the 6th most popular handset in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with China Mobile officials and both sides discussed subsidizing the Apple iPhone among other topics. It is possible that this financing offer was put in place due to China Mobile's desire not to pay for subsidized handsets. While China is now Apple's second largest market, Cook predicts that it soon will be number one.
Get Visible as low as $20/mo for 1 year. Limited time offer with code: FRESHSTART
$20
/mo
$25
$5 off (20%)
Offer Ends 6.1.2026 at 11.59pm ET. New members get $5/mo off the $25/mg Visible plan, $35/mo Visible+ plan, or $45/mo Visible+ Pro plan for the first 12 months. Promo code FRESHSTART required at checkout.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: