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China Mobile Confirms Application Store To Launch

China Mobile has confirmed that it will be launching an application store by the end of the year as its 3G roll out continues, reports IDG News via PC World. A company spokesperson said on Tuesday that independent developers and application companies would be able to upload apps for sale at the “Mobile Market,” as the store is being called.

Earlier this year, it was reported that talks to bring the iPhone to China had broken down between China’s dominant carrier and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) after the two disagreed over the Mobile Market. China Mobile apparently wanted to be able to sell iPhone apps in their Mobile Market, which Apple refused to permit. China Mobile’s president Wang Jianzhou reportedly saw Apple selling apps directly to its subscribers as a threat to its dominance.

According to its earnings report released yesterday, China Mobile had 477 million subscribers at the end of the first three months, in a country where the total market of subscribers is over 648 million. The carrier also released some data usage figures, including the stat that subscribers sent 174 billion text messages on the carrier’s network, up from 157.6 billion compared to a year ago. It also said that it had 133.99 million users signed up to its MMS service, up from 128.19 million a year ago, and some 384 million users to its mobile music service, an increase from last year’s 355.46 million.

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Apr 21, 2009 8:54 AM ET
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Posted In: Entertainment, Music, Companies, Countries, Asia, China

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