At Apple's (AAPL 0.52%) iPhone launch event this week, investors were hoping to get China Mobile (CHL).
Instead, they got NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), the largest telecom provider in Japan. And while DoCoMo's 60 million subscribers are nothing to sneeze at, they don't necessarily hold the massive promise of China Mobile's 740 million subscribers.
And although understandable, investors would be unwise to dismiss this deal as insignificant. For starters, DoCoMo has apparently suggested that nearly 40% of all new smartphone sales will be iPhones going forward. This alone presents a pretty easy few billion dollars for Apple's coffers. However, the deal's real win is the trend it represents within the broader global smartphone market. In this video, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner breaks down the financials of the deal and explains why investors should find the announcement more encouraging than originally thought.
