China Mobile president Li Yue used his keynote address at Congress this year to talk up the importance of its Mobile Market apps platform to enable the world’s largest mobile operator to reach out into new market segments. Launched in 2009, Li Yue said that Mobile Market had “fundamentally changed our revenue model” as China Mobile embraces what he called a “smart channel” strategy. “Mobile Market has become a crucial platform for us both as a cooperation platform and a way to sell to users,” he said. China Mobile now has 169 million of its 655 million subscribers registered on the platform. Some 115,000 apps are available on the store and Li Yue said that it had clocked up 670 million downloads to date. “Compared with Apple we have a long way to go, but it shows the potential,” he added. “We are the gateway for selling services in the Chinese market.”