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Morgan Stanley: Unsold phones pile up in China ahead of 4G rollout and the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 12, 2014, 2:41 PM ET

Katy Huberty

FORTUNE — Katy Huberty is back from a trip abroad with fresh intelligence from the world’s most important smartphone market: China.

In a series of three “takeaway” notes to clients, she reports:

1. Inventory pile-up: The Chinese government is saying demand for new smartphones fell 9% year-over-year last quarter even as IDC reports shipments of phones into the region rising 37%. Huberty says the Chinese carriers are spending less on marketing and subsidies as they wait for the government to issue 4G licenses.

2. iPhone 6 build-up: Most of the Apple subcontractors she spoke to expect demand for the new iPhone 6 by December will be 20% better than demand was for last year’s big Christmas seller, the iPhone 5S. Huberty was only expecting 12% growth.

3. Big-screen boost: Meanwhile, an April survey for Morgan Stanley by AlphaWise suggests that a larger-screen iPhone — as the iPhone 6 is rumored to be — could buy Apple 11 points of market share in the U.S.

Buyer beware: This Morgan Stanley prediction from last summer didn’t quite pan out:

Katy Huberty: iPhone 5C could push Apple to No. 1 in China

Below: How Huberty’s findings have changed her smartphone model.

Source: Morgan Stanley
Source: Morgan Stanley
About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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