Photo via Beidou.gov.cn

Apple's iPhone is the only smartphone on the Chinese market that doesn't list in its functions supporting the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS), but it will soon, predicted Ran Chengqi, BDS spokesperson and director general of China Satellite Navigation Office, according to a report by the China Business Journal on Wednesday. 

"Apple will come to use it sooner or later, because if BDS is good, they will of course use the better system," Ran said, according to the report.

BDS is China's large space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, that also included the US' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

Most smartphones sold in China support BDS positioning function and smartphones supporting high-precision applications have been launched, Ran told a press conference on Monday.

Apple said its iPhone 11 model is now using BDS as part of its location data system. However, it did not further elaborate, said Chinese news site guancha.com. 

Apple's official Chinese website shows the iPhone 11 only displays built-in GPS and GLONASS systems. While Huawei's P40 separately lists all four systems.

Samsung S10+, OPPO, Xiaomi and other mobile phone brands also support BDS.

According to Ran, the BDS' global positioning accuracy is better than 10 meters, with a timing accuracy better than 20 nanoseconds, and its performance in the Asia-Pacific region is even better.

So far, BDS has been applied in industries such as transportation, public security, disaster relief, farming and urban governance, as well as being integrated into China's key basic infrastructure construction including electricity, finance and telecom, said Ran.

The system's services now cover more than 200 countries and regions, with more than 100 million users and 200 million daily services.

BDS-related products have been exported to over 120 countries and regions, serving hundreds of millions of users. BDS-based services have been successfully applied in mapping, agriculture, and digital construction in member countries of ASEAN, South Asia, Eastern Europe, West Asia and Africa.