China Mobile says to start taking iPhone pre-orders from Dec 25

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China Mobile Ltd said on its official Sina-Weibo microblog account that it will begin taking orders for Apple Inc's iPhones from December 25. The move was announced by China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile carrier by subscriber numbers, on Monday. It came after Apple said the pair had agreed a long-awaited deal for the Chinese carrier to supply iPhones, boosting Apple in its global rivalry with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)