Apple, Dell Answering China's Call?

China has long loomed as a huge potential opportunity for outside mobile technology companies. Cracking that market has been another matter. But recent reports suggest that Apple will launch the iPhone soon in China, while Dell may debut its own mobile device there. What's not in question is that China has a lot of mobile users -- more than 700 million, according to second-quarter figures from mobile research and consulting firm Chetan Sharma. As of last year, Nokia was the top mobile phone seller in China, with a 46% share of shipments into China. Due to the sheer size of the mobile market in China, eMarketer predicts the Asia-Pacific region will overtake the U.S. in mobile ad spending by 2012 when it hits $6.8 billion.