Just How Big Is China Mobile?

China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: CHL) is China's largest mobile telecommunications company and considered to be a key piece of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s long-term success in China.

According to a report by DigiTimes, there were a total of 386 million 4G mobile communication subscribers in China at the end of 2015. Of the 386 million total wireless subscribers in China, 312 million were clients of China Mobile. DigiTimes, citing a report by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that China Mobile's market share stands at just over 80 percent.

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By comparison, China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE: CHA) boasts 91 million 4G subscribers while China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (ADR) (NYSE: CHU) has 184 million 3G and 4G subscribers.

DigiTimes added that China Mobile expects to sell more than 330 million 4G terminal devices throughout 2016 as the company's services will cover 97 percent of the entire country's population.

Shares of China Mobile were trading lower by 0.22 percent at $54.41 on Monday and are lower by more than 16 percent over the past year.