Apple’s iPhone deal with China Mobile is just the beginning

Apple’s incipient partnership with China Mobile is likely to go beyond iPhones, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. “Apple Inc.’s deal with China Mobile Ltd. to sell iPhones won’t be limited to handsets,” the publication notes, “but will also entail broad cooperation between the two companies, the chairman of the world’s largest carrier said Wednesday.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is “incredibly optimistic” about the recent deal the company struck with China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network with more than 740 million subscribers, and hinted at a deeper collaboration, the Wall Street Journal reports. Apple announced in December that the iPhone 5s and 5c will land on China Mobile this month, with the devices available both in China Mobile stores and Apple’s own Chinese stores from January 17. Cook tells the WSJ that this is only a “beginning” and he thinks “there are lots more things our companies can do together in the future.”