China Mobile quietly starts taking iPhone pre-orders, Fortune says - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

The catalyst to that many

AppleAAPL

bulls have been waiting for might have already begun. Fortune

revealed a screenshot taken from a website of a China Mobile Limited CHL subsidiary. The image revealed an advertisement for pre-orders of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. Apple has been working on an iPhone agreement with China Mobile for more than six years with talks appearing to be more serious since 2011. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO has travelled to China at least three times since assuming top duties at the company. His most recent trip took place in late July and the itinerary and details of meetings haven't been disclosed. Naturally this led many to believe that a deal with China Mobile is imminent. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile carrier with 740 million subscribers.

Previous estimates

from Fortune revealed that a “conservative” analysis pegs the number if Phones Apple could sell in China by 2020 at 100 million units. A more optimistic scenario could result in the company selling 200 million iPhone units in China by the end of the decade. Fortune issued an update to their article warning investors and industry watchers that they have taken the Chinese website “at face value.” China Mobile has denied that a deal has been made between the two companies while a China Mobile spokesman told CNN's Beijing bureau that a deal has yet to been finalized.

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