“Right now, what we’ve seen is just a small part of the users who want to upgrade to 4G,” said Lu. “The broader set of consumers, the relatively mainstream ones who want a large screen, are still waiting for the iPhone 6. So when that comes, the effect on high-end brands like Samsung will be even bigger.”
Kang at Counterpoint also said an iPhone with a large screen would “go directly into Samsung’s territory” and Samsung may respond with something unique, such as a curved display.
Apple is confident it can gain further traction in China thanks to its relationship with China Mobile and an army of some 150,000 Chinese developers making apps for the local App Store.
“They continue to do the roll-out,” Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters this week, referring to China Mobile’s 4G network. “They continue to add points of sale, they’re starting to do more marketing activities, so we think we have a really good runway in front of us with China Mobile.”[eap_ad_3]