China Mobile playing off rumors and Blackberry deals to negotiate better iPhone terms

Rumors about the Chinese mobile phone market are flying fast and furiously today. First was the claim by Chinese newspaper Nanfang Daily that according to unnamed sources, talks to allow China Mobile to carry the Apple iPhone have broken down because of China Mobile's unwillingness to share mobile revenue and Apple's unwillingness to remove WiFi from the iPhone. Then rumors surfaced that Chinese distributor Dixintong would distribute the iPhone, a rumor that Apple denied since it was only talking with operators. And then we hear that according to China Mobile's customer service department, Research in Motion's CEO will announce pricing and launch dates for the Blackberry in China on December 11 and 12. Meanwhile, Apple is claimed to be setting up its own Apple Retail Stores in China for phone distribution.

So what's really going on? My guess is that China Mobile is using the press to try to win concessions from Apple. It knows that Apple is talking to all the Chinese carriers. So it spreads rumors that the talks have broken down and seeds another rumor that it is bringing in Blackberries for its customers instead.

China Mobile should talk to Verizon and Vodaphone to see how well their hardball negotiations for the iPhone worked out for them. By this time, Steve Jobs has competitor China Unicom on his iPhone "Favorites" dialing list too.

Full disclosure: by this time, everyone in the known universe -- or at least those who read my blog -- should know I have Apple stock.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Blackberry, China Mobile, China Unicom, Dixintong, iPhone, Research In Motion