Reuters gets scoop on China Telecom offering iPhones by year-end, shares jump

Reuters was first on July 13 with news that China Telecom expected to offer Apples popular iPhones by the end of the year, a story which sent the telcos shares rising by the biggest degree in over a year, forced competitors to pick up the story and prompted analysts to issue research reports. Reuters correspondents tapped sources in the market who revealed that China Telecom, the smallest of the countrys three telecom carriers, could be the second operator to offer iPhones close to the end of the year in China. The news is widely watched as China Unicom is the only Chinese operator to offer the popular smartphone and Chinas Telecom entry will break that exclusive deal in the worlds largest mobile phone market. The Reuters story, filed shortly after the markets opened, boosted China Telecoms Hong Kong-listed shares by as much as 6.2 percent. The shares closed 5.1 percent higher, logging the biggest gain since May 2010. Bloomberg picked up the Reuters story 1-1/2 hours later, while Dow Jones was unable to match, filing a story saying that the talks were still going without nailing down a time frame. The exclusive also prompted analysts from Deutsche Bank and Ticonderoga Securities to issue research reports.