China iPhone Market: Could China Become Apple’s Biggest Market?

China iPhone Market: As we have discussed in the past, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) does not have a deal with China’s largest cell carrier, China Mobile. Despite this being true, there are many who feel that the tech giant will eventually deepen its roots throughout China. We can now add Apple CEO Tim Cook to the list of believers.

While he declined to say when it could happen, Cook is predicting that China will eventually become the largest consumer of Apple products in the world. That’s right, even bigger than the United States.

According to the BBC, Cook said the following during an interview with the Xinhau News Agency:

“China is currently our second-largest market, I believe it will become our first.”

Even though Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) only has 11 stores throughout China, this number is expected to grow in the future. On top of this, year over year growth has been phenomenal. The same BBC article is quoted as saying:

“The company saw its Chinese sales double in both 2010 and 2011, but the growth rate slowed last year.”

Even though growth may not have been as robust in 2012, there is one very important detail to consider: China is currently the largest market in the world.

Here is what Forbes had to add: