Apple Inc. (AAPL) Close To Releasing iPhone 5 In China

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is another step closer to releasing the iPhone 5 in China at the end of this year. It’s been reported that the State Radio Management in China was just given the ok to release two different versions of the iPhone 5 handset, which will work well with some of the country’s best networks.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Close To Releasing iPhone 5 In China

The new models were dubbed A1429 and A1442.  The former was made for the Unicom 3G Network and the latter was made for the CDMA network. It was no easy feat for Apple to get this far, as the tech giant had pass a certification test last month. Now they are on track for releasing the smartphone in early December. The one loophole Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) still has to go through, is the Chinese state regulators, in order to receive approval for China Mobile, a large state-owned network with 600 million subscribers. So far Apple has only been able to obtain deals with two large networks.

Right now Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has about fifteen percent of China in their global revenue, but naturally they hope that number will grow. It’s possible that Apple could gain significant growth in China. In fact, Michael Walkley (analyst for Canaccord Genuity) predicts that the Cupertino-based company may nearly double the number of iPhones they sell by late 2013. That is a real possibility, but the company needs to expand more in China. Even Tim Cook (chief executive officer for Apple) admits they could do better. Apple currently earns about 15% of their market from China, a country with 1.3 billion people.

The first step to selling more Apple products in China might start with opening more stores. The country currently has a total of eight Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) retail stores, with two of those actually being located in Hong Kong.

I think Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a lot of opportunities in China, all they have to do is plan ahead and focus on more money-making avenues that can be used throughout the country.

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