It’s a big, big mobile world out there in the far east, but Apple continues to come up short in exploiting the full potential of Asia’s emerging mobile market.
Not withstanding Apple’s recent sales growth in China, analyst Katy Huberty says Apple is yet to penetrate 67% of the Asian market.
How so? Apple’s popular iPhone still isn’t offered by 78%% of all mobile carriers in Asia.
Since debuting the iPhone in 2007, Apple has established partnerships with some 200 carriers in over 100 countries, but the majority of those partnerships are with North American and European carriers.
Huberty says if Apple wants to get the most from this ballooning Asian market, growing relationships across China is of vital importance.
As of this writing, China Unicom is still the only company licensed to sell the iPhone in China. But if the word on the street manifests in reality next year, all three major Chinese carriers could offer the iPhone before the end of 2012.
If so, Apple could see a sales and corresponding revenue boom unlike any smartphone maker has ever experience in that part of the world.