Following a trip to China, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White says the country is catching “Apple fever,” as reported by “Fortune” (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/18/analyst-china-catching-apple-fever/?).
He cites conversations with China Unicom, Apple’s exclusive partner and the second largest carrier (162 million subscribers) in the world’s largest mobile phone market, in which he was told that “the opportunity for high-end smartphones in China is over 100 million units.” White also quotes a report in the “Chengdu Chinese Commercial News” that mentions a newly signed “cooperation agreement” between Apple and China Mobile (CHL), the “global giant” of mobile phone carriers with roughly 815 million mobile subscribers.
“Fortune” says the nature of this agreement is unclear, but White recalls earlier reports that ten China Mobile stores in the Beijing area were offering a SIM card-cutting service that trims SIMs to fit the iPhone 4’s miniature slot.