China Mobile's operating revenue in 2025 is expected to reach 1.05 trillion yuan, with intelligent services and computing power services becoming main businesses alongside communication services.

Each Daily News reporter｜Yang Hui    Each Daily News editor｜Bi Luming

Late on March 26, the last annual reports from the three major telecommunications carriers were released—China Mobile (SH600941) 2025 annual report. According to the financial report data, in 2025, China Mobile recorded operating revenue of RMB 1.05 trillion, up 0.9%; profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 137.1 billion, down 0.9%, with like-for-like year-on-year growth of 2.0%. The board of directors recommended that the final dividend for the year ended December 31, 2025 be paid to all shareholders of HK$2.52 per share. Together with the interim dividend already paid, total dividends for 2025 amounted to HK$5.27 per share, up 3.5% year over year.

What is worth noting is that in this annual report, intelligent services and compute power services have become the company’s main businesses alongside communications services. According to China Mobile, communications services are the core business base; compute power services are the growth engine for development; intelligent services are the commanding height for the future, and both the latter two will strive to double their revenue by the end of the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.

According to the financial report data, China Mobile’s operating revenue in 2025 was RMB 1.05 trillion, up 0.9% year over year; revenue from principal business was RMB 895.5 billion, up 0.7%; the proportion of communications services revenue to principal business revenue was 79.8%; revenue from compute power services and intelligent services accounted for 20.2% of principal business revenue, up 1.4 percentage points year over year.

China Mobile’s operating profit in 2025 was RMB 148.9 billion, up 4.4%; profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 137.1 billion, down 0.9%, with like-for-like year-on-year growth of 2.0%; earnings per share were RMB 6.35; EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) was RMB 338.9 billion, up 1.6%; EBITDA margin was 32.3%, up 0.2 percentage points year over year. Capital expenditures were RMB 150.9 billion, down 8.0%; free cash flow was RMB 82.0 billion.

From the perspective of principal businesses, China Mobile further subdivided its business. Unlike the 2025 interim report and the 2024 annual report, in China Mobile’s 2025 annual report, the company’s principal business is clearly divided into three major segments: communications services, intelligent services, and compute power services. This makes China Mobile’s transformation direction over the past year very clear.

Among the three principal businesses, communications services remain China Mobile’s “anchor,” including mobile communications, broadband networks, cellular IoT, and satellite interconnection businesses. In 2025, China Mobile’s communications services revenue was RMB 714.9 billion, down 1.0%, and the share of principal business revenue fell from 81.2% in 2024 to 79.8%.

Image source: Screenshot of China Mobile performance briefing materials

Image source: Screenshot of the annual report

Breaking down the communications business in detail, in 2025, China Mobile’s 5G network customers were 642 million, an increase of 89.6 million net adds over 2024, up 16.2%; average monthly minutes per user (MOU, minutes/user/month) were 204 minutes, down 8.1% year over year from 222 minutes in 2024; average monthly mobile internet data per user (DOU, GB/user/month) was 17.3 GB, up 9% year over year from 15.9 GB in 2024; mobile ARPU (average revenue per user, RMB/user/month) was RMB 46.8, down 3.5% year over year from RMB 48.5 in 2024; broadband connected customers were 329 million, an increase of 9.99 million net adds over 2024; broadband network revenue grew 7.1% year over year; the number of IoT card connections was 1.48 billion, up 4.6% year over year. Comprehensive ARPU for residential customers (RMB/user/month) was RMB 44.5, up 1.6% year over year from 2024.

In the other market segment, in 2025 China Mobile’s international market revenue was RMB 29.3 billion, up 28.5%. In addition, according to China Mobile’s statements in its annual report, the company was granted an operating license for satellite mobile communications business, and satellite communications has entered the stage of commercial operations.

In terms of infrastructure construction, during the reporting period, China Mobile’s 5G network base stations exceeded 2.77 million. Its total smart-computing scale (including self-built and leased smart-computing) reached 92.5 EFLOPS (FP16), achieving full-spec computing capability from “100 cards to over 10,000 cards.” The number of IDC standard racks provided externally (a standard rack corresponds to 2.5KW per rack) exceeded 1.5 million racks.

In terms of other principal businesses, compute power services include three segments: data centers, cloud compute services, and cloud compute applications. According to China Mobile, compute power services are an important growth engine for the company’s high-quality development. In 2025, China Mobile’s compute power services revenue was RMB 89.8 billion, up 11.1% year over year. Of this, data center revenue grew 8.7% year over year, and AIDC (intelligent computing data centers) revenue grew 35.4% year over year. Benefiting from rapid growth in intelligent computing demand, compute power services became the first growth engine, with a growth rate of 279%, driving cloud compute services revenue to grow 13.9% year over year. The number of monthly active customers for cloud disks reached 210 million, and cloud video customers exceeded 86.7 million.

At the evening performance briefing on March 26, senior management of China Mobile also disclosed that in April this year, the company’s Hong Kong Fo Tan data center will begin operations. Going forward, the company will build ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters, strengthen Token (tokens) operations, and connect the service chain of “Agent using Token, and Token driving compute power.” It is understood that, as of now, China Mobile’s own offline channels have installed the “shrimp farming dragon” app for tens of thousands of customers, and customers using mobile cloud compute power services for “shrimp farming dragon” number more than 40,000. In addition, the company is building an efficient, coordinated, and specialized compute power operations services system: the group headquarters has established a compute power office, provincial and municipal companies will set up compute power centers, forming a systemized compute power services capability.

For intelligent services, according to China Mobile, intelligent services are the company’s high ground for winning future competition, including data algorithms, embodied intelligence, digital and intelligent culture, digital and intelligent e-commerce, and industry digital and intelligent services. In 2025, China Mobile’s intelligent services revenue was RMB 90.8 billion, up 5.3% year over year. Of this, data algorithm revenue grew 12.6% year over year; digital and intelligent culture revenue grew 13.3% year over year.

At the performance briefing, senior management of China Mobile also discussed factors behind the business segmentation. According to its explanation, based on the overall judgment that the scope of communications continues to expand, compute power demand is very strong, and intelligent applications are accelerating breakthroughs, China Mobile has clarified its core business into three categories: “communications services, compute power services, and intelligent services.” Among them, communications services are the core business base; compute power services are the growth engine for development; intelligent services are the commanding height for the future. Both of the latter two will strive to double revenue by the end of the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.

Regarding future development, senior management of China Mobile said that for the medium and long term, China Mobile’s goal is to have, by 2030, basically built a world-class technology services company, ensuring that revenues, profits, and market value remain ahead of global carriers. In the future, the company will focus on high-growth areas such as AIDC and intelligent computing clusters, and promote coordinated development of network-cloud, intelligent networking, and compute-electricity coordination. It will strengthen the Mobile Cloud brand and Mobile Cloud applications. With the acceleration of new forms of intelligent economy such as autonomous agents and humanoid robots, China Mobile will also innovate and break through in cutting-edge fields including large models, data sets, agents, and embodied intelligence, and will strongly expand key scenarios such as digital and intelligent culture, digital and intelligent e-commerce, and industry digital and intelligent services.

In investment and layout, senior management of China Mobile also emphasized that it will invest better in networks, invest more strongly in people—stepping up the introduction of top talent and strengthening AI empowerment for talent— and invest faster in new areas, with a forward-looking layout of future industries such as 6G, quantum technology, and embodied intelligence.

Cover image source: Song Meilu

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