Do you realise the fatal error you are making here? Apple vs Android…..It’s like saying Cisco vs Linux…..make son sense, right. Apple is a manufacturer of product (i.e. finished goods), whereas Android is a mobile phone OS which any manufacturer can adopt. It is totally non-sensical to compare the two.

Try Apple vs HTC, that makes sense.

“It boils down to a simple business decision. Will these guys give me enough volume to justify the expense?”

For 650 million customers, it seems like the answer would be yes.

First of all Apple made a special CDMA version for Verizon. Is China Mobile bigger than Verizon? Yes. So Apple will make a special radio version for them, too. Not as big a deal as you think, although, as you correctly point out, a necessity.

Second – Android market share is 70% but how many of those Android devices compete with the iPhone? The vast majority of Android phones sold in countries without subsidy – as they’re here in SEA where I live – are low end phones that cost between $100 – $200.

No iPhone competes with these low end devices – not even the 3GS, which costs over $300. Maybe the 3GS will compete with these eventually but it’s clearly not where the massive margins come from.

A much more meaningful statistic about China would be: How many $700 Android phones were sold vs iPhone 4S? And I think if you could get that statistic, you’d find the iPhone outsold Android by a solid margin.

Just my observation on the street – low end Android phones are everywhere, which is unsurprising given that they’re the best and most iPhone-like phone you can buy for that little money. And most people who can afford an iPhone, have one. I see some higher end Samsung phones since last year on the streets, but they’re far outnumbered by iPhones.