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:

“China is already the world’s largest market, period, so it’s not surprising that a thoroughly global brand like Apple expects  sales in a country of 1.3 billion to eclipse a country of 311 million. Apple sales in China doubled in 2010 and 2011, and the company has opened up several new retail outlets in the past year, for a total of 11. That’s still a long way off from American Apple store density, of course.”

This is a bold statement coming out of the mouth of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook. There is definitely a lot of upside in China, but it is hard to say what the future holds.

Is it possible that Cook feels this way because of an imminent deal with China Mobile? Share your thoughts below.

Check back here for more updates on China iPhone Market.

DISCLOSURE: I have no positions in any stock mentioned.

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