China Mobile, the massive state-owned telecommunications company, began selling iPhones on Friday, January 14th after reaching a deal with Apple. The two companies have been negotiating a way for Apple to enter the Chinese markets for over six years, but have finally come to an agreement. Experts are now left wondering how big of a mark Apple can leave in the country, but signs are positive: China Mobile told CNBC this week that they already have 1.2 million pre-orders for iPhones. China Mobile has the largest network of mobile phone users, but until this point have been unable to purchase any of Apple's products.

The new deal comes at just the right time, as the Chinese New Year is right around the corner and is a key gift-giving season in the country. In a sign of just how major this deal is, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been in Beijing all this week, meeting with both executives and consumers who are eager to make their purchases. On Friday both Cook and China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua were at China Mobile's flagship store in Beijing where they allowed a small group of customers to pose for pictures while buying their phones.

Analysts who are closely paying attention to the deal say they are watching how people respond to the data packages that are being offered by China Mobile, which will be a key part of the deal's overall success. Most of the packages currently come in two-year deals, with significant amounts of data in the 4G network. This is important because most users will be looking for the best network speed and the total cost of the data being used.

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