Will T-Mobile Boost Apple Inc. (AAPL) Sales?

Earlier this week, we discussed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s iPhone revenues, and how older “legacy” models were cutting into sales of the company’s newest smartphone, the iPhone 5. On the whole, though, aggregate iPhone sales for this quarter are expected to be up 25-30% from the same point last year; Canaccord Genuity expects 47.5 million of the devices to be sold by the end of the period.

Interestingly, these estimates came before today’s announcement from T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, which stated in a press release that the carrier would “bring products to market together in 2013.” No details were given about exactly which Apple devices would be included in the deal, but the iPhone and iPad are logical choices.

Originally reported by AppleInsider, at least one prominent tech analyst thinks that the move will be material to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s bottom line. In a note to clients today, RBC Capital Markets‘ Amit Daryanani predicted that Apple could sell around 4.8 million iPhones in its first year with T-Mobile, assuming that 20% of postpaid subscribers buy the device. Daryanani obtains his 20% figure from the percentage of iPhones that Sprint has sold over the past year. Sprint became an official iPhone carrier last fall, with the release of the 4S.

Interestingly, at least one blogger thinks that “T-Mobile CEO John Legere hinted that T-Mobile could heavily finance ‘the most iconic device in the world’ by selling it on a Value Plan offsetting some of the upfront costs,” during his announcement of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) deal today.

With that being said, most analysts expect the tech giant to sell somewhere in the range of 190-200 iPhones in 2013, so with Daryanani’s 4.8 million unit forecast, we can see that T-Mobile may give Apple an extra 2-3% in smartphone revenues by the end of next year. While not an enormous increase, it is still encouraging to see that the Cupertino-based company is expanding its mobile reach — a fact that investors shouldn’t take lightly. Let us know your thoughts on this latest Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) news in the comments section below.