Apple (AAPL) Near-Term iPhone Ests Could Be High as China Mobile (CHL) Deal Remains Elusive
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) have yet to ink a mobile phone deal. Could weak iPhone 5c sales be the cause.
KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo commented on China Mobile's (NYSE: CHL) recent 4G announcement. The analyst said,
Kuo is still loking for Apple to ship 38 million iPhone units in fiscal Q1, though the Street is adding China Mobile into the mix and looking for shipments of 45 to 50 million units. The analyst also isn't looking for a pickup in iPhone shipments over the next 3 to 6 months including China Mobile given that iPhone sales don't historically pickup in Q2. More activity is expected in the latter-part of 2014 given the introduction of new products and pricing.
In total, Kuo sees a China Mobile deal adding 15 to 20 million to 2014 shipments and 20 to 30 million the following year.
KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo commented on China Mobile's (NYSE: CHL) recent 4G announcement. The analyst said,
weak sales of iPhone 5C may trigger a re-negotiation of the Apple-China Mobile partnership. While previously we estimated that Apple originally planned the TD-LTE version would account for 30 percent of total iPhone 5C shipments, our latest survey indicates that demand for the TD-LTE iPhone 5C has declined dramatically due to 5S being far more popular than 5C among China Mobile subscribers. As such, we estimate iPhone 5C shipments of the TD-LTE version for China Mobile at 1.0-1.5mn units in 4Q13 and under 1.0mn units in 1Q14, well below Apple’s original production plan.
Kuo is still loking for Apple to ship 38 million iPhone units in fiscal Q1, though the Street is adding China Mobile into the mix and looking for shipments of 45 to 50 million units. The analyst also isn't looking for a pickup in iPhone shipments over the next 3 to 6 months including China Mobile given that iPhone sales don't historically pickup in Q2. More activity is expected in the latter-part of 2014 given the introduction of new products and pricing.
In total, Kuo sees a China Mobile deal adding 15 to 20 million to 2014 shipments and 20 to 30 million the following year.