Apple has ‘big plans’ in China

Apple CEO Tim Cook said he’s got “big plans” for the gadget maker next year — reigniting speculation about what new products might be emerging from the pipeline.

Cook didn’t mention any new products specifically, but in a letter to employees thanking them for their hard work, the CEO mentioned “big plans that we think consumers are going to love” in the new year.

This has refueled talk of an iTV, an iWatch and even an iPhone with a bigger screen — like a smaller iPad mini.

Of course, Apple’s engineers didn’t have to lift a finger to get the company’s stock pumping on Monday. That was the work of Apple’s teams of lawyers and international negotiators.

Shares of the gadget maker climbed $21 a share on Apple’s announcement over the weekend that it has finally closed a deal with China’s largest mobile network, China Mobile, to start selling its smartphones there.

The multiyear deal sent the stock up 3.84 percent to $570.09 a share.

China Mobile has more than 760 million subscribers and Apple could land a slice of between 20 million to 40 million new customers in the coming years as a result.

Analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald called Apple’s deal with China Mobile “the most difficult carrier agreement” Apple has ever had to negotiate. Still, it was “well worth the wait,” White said.

Americans, meanwhile, will be keeping an eye on Apple’s “big plans.” Wall Street has been abuzz for some time about an iPhone with a larger screen option, which could come out as soon as next summer, analysts like Piper Jaffrey’s Gene Munster have said.