While smartphone markets in many countries are showing signs of slowing growth as the markets mature, China posted 79% growth in high-speed subscribers in the year 2013, with a total of 417 million users.
China’s massive growth in smartphone subscribers, highlighted on Tuesday by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White, comes as Apple launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless provider, last Friday.
White believes Apple is nicely positioned to benefit from the growth opportunities in China. He feels there is still plenty of room to grow in the country. Total mobile subscribers came in at 1.23 billion there last year.
As a result, high-speed data subscribers, 3G or faster, represent only one-third of total subscribers. White says he sees Apple’s partnership with China Mobile providing benefits for the iPhone maker well into the next decade.
