Research In Motion Ltd. will offer a version of the BlackBerry customized for China and will partner with a Lenovo Group Ltd. affiliate to increase its share of the world’s biggest mobile-phone market.

China’s homegrown 3G wireless technology will be supported on BlackBerry devices, Research in Motion said in a statement with partner China Mobile Ltd. today in Beijing. The Canadian smart-phone maker said yesterday it reached an accord to expand distribution of the handset in the market through Digital China Holdings Ltd.

The move steps up the competition between RIM and Apple Inc., which began distributing its top-selling iPhone in the country through China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. on Oct. 30. China added 9.3 million mobile-phone users in September, raising the total to 719.8 million, according to government estimates.

BlackBerry devices supporting China’s TD-SCDMA, or time division synchronous code division multiple access, technology will be introduced “very soon,” Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s chairman, said at today’s briefing. The Beijing-based company, the world’s biggest phone company by market value, only offers RIM’s older 8700 model used in its slower 2G network.

RIM will use Digital China’s knowledge of the market to expand its presence in the country, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said yesterday, without disclosing financial terms.

Digital China has 19 regional distribution centers and about 8,300 employees, according to RIM’s statement. Digital China and Lenovo, China’s biggest personal-computer maker, are both controlled by Beijing-based Legend Holdings Ltd.

RIM rose $1.53, or 2.6 percent, to $60.28 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday. The shares have gained 49 percent this year. China Mobile shares fell 0.4 percent to HK$72.75 as of 11:41 a.m. in Hong Kong today.

source:bloomberg