The Irresistible Force meets the Immovable Object. That’s how negotiations between Apple and China Mobile ^[1] appear to be going over whether the iPhone will be introduced in China.

Negotiations between these two have been underway for at least three years and have gone nowhere. Apple is obviously the world dominator in mobile devices, with the top tablet and most beloved smartphone. The company is accustomed to exercising a fair amount of clout.

China Mobile, on the other hand, has 628 million subscribers. That’s more than two for every man, woman, and child living in the United States. Given its humongous size, China Mobile thinks it’s entitled to some special consideration, such as a cut of every iPhone Apple sells. Apple has never done this, and not surprisingly has refused these terms.

Nevertheless, the two companies have reiterated their desire to work together. Even without China Mobile there are 10 million unlocked iPhones in China. They’re using WiFi, since they aren’t compatible with the country’s mobile network technology, and China Mobile is encouraging this for now. And while negotiations continue, Apple seems to be developing a 4G TD-LTE iPhone 5 that would work on the Mobile China network.

I guess both companies are hoping that by the time it’s ready for market, one of them will have blinked.

Read more at AllThingsD ^[1].