Can Apple save China Mobile?

via CrunchBase, Bloggers in the US have picked up fresh rumors on a possible cooperation between Apple and China Mobile on the iPhone, like here in TechCrunch. The story that China's mobile market leader is going to strike a deal with Apple is making rounds for a while, but our US-colleagues are not yet reporting that the position of China Mobile has changed dramatically over the past few months.

Past talks between China Mobile and Apple have failed, largely because of Apple’s past insistence on taking a portion (believed to be between 20-30 percent) of the carrier’s monthly fees from iPhone customers.

Now, we have no sources telling us about the ongoing negotiations, but in contrast with the past, China Mobile might need Apple more than Apple needs China Mobile. Now China Mobile is going to run the domestic TD-SCDMA technology, creating a serious disadvantage with its two expected competitors.
China Mobile has been acting as a quasi-monopolist as long as we know it, squeezing content providers and other service partners until their margins evaporated. Those days might be over now and there will be enough people inside and outside China willing to backstab China Mobile to get even for its past behaviour. When it come to politics, people tend to have long memories in China.