The key to future sales growth is signing up new cellular operators, especially in Asia
Click to enlarge.
In a series of well-researched charts, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty has put her finger on the one factor -- all others being equal -- that really drives smartphone sales: The number of cell phone operators that sell the thing.
In a report issued to clients Sunday, Huberty shared the results of an analysis of 760 carriers in 225 countries from 2007 to 2001. Over the past five years, the growth in total subscribers per year (17%) was split roughly 50/50 between new subscribers on existing carriers and subscribers signed up on new carriers.
This holds true in spades, Huberty suggests, for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, which since 2007 has gone from one carrier -- AT&T (T) -- to nearly 230 carriers in 105 countries. (See chart above.)
Despite those carrier agreements, Apple still trails its competitors. Research in Motion (RIMM), for example, has deals for the BlackBerry with 79% of the 760 operators Huberty identified. Only 30% carry the iPhone.
The biggest opportunity for growth, according to Huberty (and, for that matter, Tim Cook) is in Asia, both in terms of total population and in terms of the number of subscribers who don't have access to the iPhone because their cellular provider doesn't sell it. See the charts below:
One last chart that also works in favor of cellphones, like the iPhone, with a relatively high sticker price: The growth in the number of subscribers in emerging markets who buy subsidized cellphones (in so-called post-paid plans) has recently overtaken those who prefer to pay full price for cheap cellphones at the time of purchase (so-called pre-paid phones).
The crowd of 350-400 was smaller than the ones that showed up for the iPad and iPad 2
We counted 352 heads before shooting this video. By the time Apple (AAPL) staffers opened the doors at 8:00 a.m., it had probably grown to 400.
We counted 330 at this store for the launch of the iPhone 3GS, 500-600 for the launch of the original iPad and nearly 1,200 for the iPad 2.
Judging from the MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 14, 2011 10:01 AM ET
In Japan, its profits grew 1,156% between 2005 and 2010. Europe's were up 1,518%
Source: Motley Fool
"Apple's international sales are simply on fire"
So wrote the Motley Fool's Erik Bleeker Monday in a piece assessing Apple's (AAPL) overseas demand.
It is, as he puts it, exploding.
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following COO Tim Cook's Q&As with analysts, where he's been highlighting Apple's growth in the Japanese MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 28, 2011 7:38 AM ET
An analyst expects Apple to launch both an iPhone 5 and a mid-range iPhone 4S
Click to enlarge. Source: Deutsche Bank
For much of the spring, the reporters who cover Apple (AAPL) have been arguing among themselves about what to call the new iPhone they expect the company to introduce in September.
Some call it the iPhone 5, to match the iOS 5 operating system Apple unveiled to developers three weeks ago.
Some, MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 27, 2011 7:15 AM ET
By Bill Powell, senior writer
Investors are pitching the Zuckerberg-Gates-Google model of college-kid startups at China's prestigious universities. And the kids are into it.
FORTUNE -- IPOs from Chinese tech companies -- in e-commerce, social media, mobile applications for tablets and smart phones -- in just about anything in the so-called TMT (technology,media, telecom) universe have been coming with such relentless frequency that they're hard to keep track of, especially from afar. So MORE
Jun 2, 2011 12:51 PM ET
The contrast with Windows PC sales is especially striking in Asia, the U.S. and the rest of the world
Source: Needham
As is his wont, Needham's Charlie Wolf waited until the middle of Apple's (AAPL) current quarter to issue his analysis of the last. As usual, it was worth the wait.
In a note to clients Friday entitled "What a Streak," he uses a series of charts based on IDC data to MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 22, 2011 10:40 AM ET
The U.S. computer maker got serious in India only a few years ago -- and then proceeded to thrash HP and everyone else. Now India is Dell's fastest-growing market, with 55% growth.
By Anurag Prasad, contributor
Mahesh Bhalla, general manager of consumer and small business for Dell India.
In the U.S., Dell originally became a market leader through its online and direct made-to-order sales model. When the computer maker decided MORE
Feb 10, 2011 8:30 AM ET
Losing Europe would pretty much end Nokia's run as the world's leading mobile OS.
via Parker Bros.
The Android news lately is starting to feel like the end of a game of Risk. First North America falls, then Asia, now Europe. Bloomberg quotes IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo who thinks Android is poised to own 2011 in Europe.
"The iPhone was last year's hot device and now people are looking for something different," MORE
Seth Weintraub - Nov 29, 2010 4:11 PM ET
The European market has been gaining on the U.S., but Asia is coming on fast
Source: Baird & Co.
When Baird's William Power initiated coverage of Apple (AAPL) Thursday with a price target of $410, he backed his predictions with an unusually thorough 82-page report to clients that is chock-a-block with useful charts and graphs. The one above shows at a glance how important Europe has become as a market MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Nov 6, 2010 10:54 AM ET
The iPhone continued its march across Europe today.
Three months after it landed in Britain, German and France, Apple's (AAPL) mobile phone and computing device crossed into Austria and Ireland, where it will be carried by T-Mobile and O2, respectively.
It's all part of Apple's campaign to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 by growing its international markets one region at a time.
The company now has its eyes on the Netherlands, Belgium, MORE
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| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
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| Bank of America Corp... | 7.95 | -0.16 | -1.97% |
| Microsoft Corp | 31.27 | -0.17 | -0.54% |
| Ford Motor Co | 12.28 | -0.25 | -2.00% |
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| Citigroup Inc | 32.36 | -1.00 | -3.00% |
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