One wonders what need China Mobile has for revenue sharing agreements with Apple when it seems iPhones are streaming into China faster than Walmart purchase orders. In fact, analysts estimate 400k iPhones entered China last year alone! This is a staggering amount and Apple must have known this problem was happening as they had a temporary restriction on how many iPhones could be purchased at one time in their stores.

So the question becomes, how does Apple go about negotiating with the largest cell provider in China now? It will be interesting to watch how this plays out. One strategy is to make sure -- absolutely positively sure that the latest and greatest iPhone doesn't unlock. If this can be pulled off, Apple could perhaps have some negotiating power.