Don't forget T Mobile. They will be the next big US carrier to grab the iPhone.
Apple has a lot more things that look interesting this year as they move into more markets with a bigger portfolio of new products. It's hard to get too nervous about Apple which has only been selling the iPhone to CDMA carriers like VZ for 2 years, and Sprint for just 1 year. Since Apple started selling the iPhone to ATT, their business has gotten stronger every year. The same will happen with VZ, S and T Mobile over time too. Plus, China Mobile is the biggest potential customer for Apple out of all global carriers. That's only going to help grow their business in Asia. It's amazing how subdued expectations are for March quarter, given the fact the China Unicom and China Telecom will have their first full quarter of iPhone 5 sales this March. Last year, they only had China Unicom during the March quarter.
Last year, Apple reduced Dec numbers from $46 billion to $32 billion for the March quarter, but actually came in around $39 billion. So, it really doesn't matter what the earnings guidance looks like, since everyone has already gone out of their way to lower forward expectations. Still, I think new iPhone sales in China gives them an easy opportunity to beat those numbers in March. T Mobile will pick up the slack in June, and by then the replacement cycle for the 4S begins to kick in this summer.
I don't buy this whole line of crap that Apple's iPhones are generating excess subsidies by the carriers either. Every smart phone is priced around the same $600 level. Companies that aren't generating profits just aren't selling enough phones to cover their costs. The iPhone 4 and 4S are 2 of the cheaper phones on the market right now. Still, I'd like to see more lower end models with plastic bodies to start replacing the iPhone 4 this year. I don't want to be forced to spend an extra $50 to buy an Otter Box for my next iPhone. It would be nice to be able to choose a more durable iPhone that didn't run the risk of having the screen shattered. |
