3 Things That Can Boost Apple Inc. (AAPL) in 2013

2) “China Mobile, which has about 500 million subs that should be a catalyst for iPhone growth in the back half [of 2013].”

A China Mobile deal may be the best growth catalyst for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). In case you were unaware, the company is currently in talks with the mobile subscriber, which has over a half-billion subscribers, to potentially sell the iPhone. Apple released the latest iteration of its smartphone via carriers China Telecom and China Unicom earlier this month, but the combination of both companies’ user bases (about 330M) still pales in comparison to that of China Mobile.

While most would argue that the prospects of both sides reaching a deal rely on technical implications, the simple fact is that China Mobile is unwilling to sign an agreement that does not give them at least some portion of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s sales. Most sources cite this desired revenue stream to be exclusively from iTunes. What we do know is that China Mobile’s CEO, Li Yue, has been quoted as saying “the business model and benefit sharing still need further discussion.”

IDC analyst Teck-Zhung Wong (via Bloomberg) has said that “Li’s comment suggests that China Mobile has no intention of simply gifting Apple access to its huge subscriber base without extracting a pound of flesh from Apple.”

What remains to be seen, then, is if both sides can come to a deal (as Gene Munster predicts), which iPhone model will be sold by the carrier. We’re already hearing rumors of an iPhone 5S and even a low-cost model that could hit the shelves by next year or 2014, so we can surmise that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 will be in the agreement only if a deal is done in the next six months or so.

You can probably guess what Munster’s final concept is.