iPhone to sell 40-million units in China by 2013

By 2013, China could see its iPhone-owning population grow to 40-million plus. Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicts that Apple will team up with China Mobile and China Telecom in order to push the iPhone onto all three carrier networks.

Katy Huberty, an analyst from Morgan Stanley stated to investors late last week that Apple could only reach 10% of the “150 million high-end Chinese subscribers” with its present China Unicom partnership.

China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile network, with an excess of 120-million customers paying approximately US$16 monthly. According to the report, 10% of these customers also subscribe to China Telecom, the third-most prolific mobile carrier.

Huberty notes that the iPhone 5 (or whatever is next) is “likely to be compatible” with the incoming 4G-LTE network in China.  But “it’s still too early to know for sure,” The as yet unnamed, sixth-generation iPhone will work hand-in-hand with the quad-mode baseband chip from Qualcomm. Morgan Stanley further predicts that the new iPhone will land in the third quarter of 2012, with a launch in mainland China by 2013 at the earliest.

As “3G and smartphone penetration is increasing at a fast clip”, Huberty believes that Apple may sell up to 36-million units care of China Mobile, during 2013.

Due to compatibility issues, iPhones in china are limited to 2G services only. Despite this, Apple managed to sell over 10-million iPhones attached to the China Mobile network. Apple continues to dominate in China though, as a recent Morgan Stanley survey revealed that iPhones have surpassed Nokia as the top brand in China. Almost half of those surveyed said that an iPhone would be their “first choice for a 3G handset”.

Apple has also said that the demand for iPhones in China is “staggering”. Point of fact, when the iPhone 4S touched-down in China, near rioting caused a postponement of retail sales in iPhone stores countrywide.