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We've been talking an awful lot about Apple's
According to government estimates, China's overall mobile subscriber base has just topped 1 billion. That's a lot of opportunity in a country where potential buyers riot just to get their hands on an iPhone -- much more growth potential than there is domestically. No. 2 carrier China Unicom
China has a population of more than 1.34 billion people, so that mobile subscriber figure of 1 billion represents only three out of four of the country's ranks. But remember that the vast majority of those subscribers haven't even yet migrated to 3G data service yet. Here are those three carrier's subscriber figures as of January.
Carrier |
Mobile Subscribers |
3G Subscribers |
---|---|---|
China Mobile | 655.4 million | 53.9 million |
China Unicom | 202.9 million | 43.1 million |
China Telecom | 129.3 million | 38.7 million |
Total | 987.6 million | 135.7 million |
Sources: Investor relations. Data as of January 2012.
In the past few months, the country has gained enough mobile subscribers to cross into 10-digit territory, but 3G penetration remains relatively low. 3G penetration from those January figures is 13.7% of subscribers, but just 10.1% of the total population.
Compare that with our figures stateside. The United States has a population of approximately 313 million, and the CTIA estimates a total of 322.8 million wireless subscribers as of last June -- yes, that's over 100% mobile penetration. More than 98% of our population has 3G coverage, with more than half of us paying for the service.
That's a massive iPhone opportunity within China as the fastest0growing emerging market. Next stop: Brazil and India.
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