China Telecom to offer iPhone from March 9

China Telecom (CHA.NYSE, 728.HKG) will begin selling Apple’s (AAPL.Nasdaq) iPhone 4S on March 9, making it the country’s second mobile carrier to offer the phone, Bloomberg reported. The iPhone is currently available in China only through China Unicom (CHU.NYSE, 600050.SH, 0762HKG), which began offering the device in October 2009. The country’s other major operator, China Mobile (CHL.NYSE, 0941.HKG), has yet to announce concrete plans for the iPhone. China is the world’s biggest mobile phone market; the country’s mobile phone subscriptions rose 1.2% month-on-month in January to 987.58 billion subscribers, according to data from China’s three telecom operators. Despite the popularity of Apple products in China, the company’s market share in the smartphone market slipped for a second straight quarter in October through December, as it lost ground to cheaper local brands and as some shoppers held off until after the iPhone 4S launch last month, state media reported.