Apple set for sales boost after 'agreeing iPhone deal' with China's biggest network

Apple could be set for a huge sales boost in China after reportedly agreeing a deal for the country's biggest mobile phone network to carry the iPhone.

China Mobile could seal the agreement to make the iPhone available on its network, which has 760million subscribers within a fortnight, it is claimed.

The Chinese government issued 4G licences this week, and the Wall Street Journal suggested iPhones will only at first be sold on the network using the new super fast 4G/LTE connection from December 18.

If the deal goes through it would give Apple a customer base three times bigger than America's entire mobile owning population.

The first year of a deal with China Mobile could pave the way for as many as 17million extra iPhone sales within the first year.

That could lead to up to $9billion in extra revenue, financial analyists predict.

Apple's 3G iPhones are already available through other providers in the Far Eastern country, but the company has previously been unable to agree a deal with the massive China Mobile network.

The Chinese market generated $5.7bn for Apple in the last financial quarter - the equivalent of 15 per cent of its total revenue.

The technology firm has not commented on the reports, while China Mobile said talks were ongoing but it had "nothing to disclose".