Recent reports that China Telecom will begin offering the iPhone by the end of the year have prompted investment firms to crunch the numbers on the deal's potential revenue opportunity, with one analyst arriving at a figure of $9 billion.
China Telecom plans to begin selling Apple's iPhone by the end of this year, breaking rival China Unicom's exclusive hold on the iPhone market in the country, according to a new report.
Apple had originally planned a 2011 release for an LTE-capable iPhone, but has pushed back its timeline for the device because of production constraints, according to a new report out of the Far East. Meanwhile, sources indicate that China Mobile will likely begin selling Apple's next-generation iPhone later this year.
Apple could see as much as $6 billion from sales of the CDMA-version of the iPhone on Verizon, and another $3 billion in CDMA iPhone sales overseas in 2012, says one analyst.
A new survey shows that Apple is poised to capitalize on an explosion in sales of 3G smartphones in China, with the iPhone the most popular option, though lower prices could give it the lion's share of sales.
Chinese language news sites are reporting that a limited launch of a CDMA iPhone on the China Telecom network could come as early as June of this year and may rely on over-the-air wireless activation.
Sustained growth of the iPhone, especially in China, will help Apple to maintain a 25 to 30 percent growth rate in earnings through 2015, says investment firm Piper Jaffray.
One Wall Street analyst said Tuesday that global CDMA carriers, including China Telecom and Indian carrier Reliance, are expected to begin carrying the new CDMA iPhone 4 "over time."
Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook revealed on Tuesday that his company's agreement with Verizon for the CDMA iPhone is non-exclusive, meaning the new handset could also appear on Sprint's CDMA network.
A new report claims that Apple has raised its first quarter 2011 iPhone shipment target to 20-21 million units, including 14-15 million WCDMA iPhones and 5-6 million CDMA units.
As T-Mobile loses its iPhone exclusivity in Germany to O2 and Vodafone, Apple has begun offering the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 unlocked without a contract to German customers, with the 16GB iPhone 4 model selling for 629 euros.
Apple partners Foxconn and Pegatron have both received orders for a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 due out in 2011, a new report out of the Far East claims.
Apple is attempting to block scalpers by instituting new restrictions preventing walk-in sales of the iPhone at Apple Stores in China. Customers must first reserve an iPhone on Apple's website before visiting an Apple Retail Store to complete the purchase.
China's third-largest wireless operator may be in talks with Apple to offer a CDMA-version of the iPhone on its 3G network, according to an overseas report.
Fearing growing competition from its smaller rivals, iPhone holdout China Mobile is reaching out to Apple this month in hopes that the mobile device maker will concede to building support for Beijing's proprietary 3G standard into its next-generation handset.
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Josh Ong
Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Katie Marsal
