Steve Kovach/Business Insider
The iPhone 5S on China Mobile.
Apple is notorious for skipping big tech conferences like the Mobile World Congress happening this week in Barcelona.But its carrier partners are not.
China Mobile, the largest carrier in the world with more than 700 million subscribers, has a booth at MWC and it's showing off the iPhone 5S. The carrier started selling the iPhone for the first time in January, and many expect its partnership to boost Apple's sales in China. Right now, Apple is only in fifth place in smartphone market share in China. Samsung is number one.
China Mobile had a gold iPhone 5S display and it was loaded with a few carrier apps for messaging and managing your account. (However, I'm told those apps don't come preinstalled on the phone.)
While Apple's device was at a tiny booth at MWC, Samsung has dominated the show so far, announcing its new flagship phone the Galaxy S5, which has a gorgeous 5.1-inch screen. Samsung also announced an attractive fitness tracker/smart watch called the Gear Fit that everyone has been going nuts over.