How Apple could sell 77 million iPhones in 2013

Generator Research’s Andrew Sheehy’s “premise is that the mobile services industry boils down to three ingredients — devices, networks and services. After 20 years and billions of dollars, the industry has done a good job delivering the first two, devices and networks, and a terrible job delivering the third ingredient: the services themselves. That, he says, is better done by companies with experience in computers, software and the Internet,” Phillip Elmer-Dewitt reports for Fortune. “Companies, he writes, like Apple:”

From a starting position as a rank outsider, Apple is already beginning to have a transformational impact on the mobile industry. Even taking into account the highly uncertain economic outlook, the company is on a roll and with cash reserves of $25 billion, 33% gross margins, no debt and a strong product portfolio.

Elmer-DeWitt reports, “He sees three reasons Apple is particularly well positioned to dominate the smartphone business.”

• In the future it won’t be good enough to deliver devices with more and more features
• Apple is the master of the vertical platform and the case for a vertical platform is even stronger in mobile industry
• Smartphones have the potential to substantially increase Apple’s revenues at a corporate level, which is not the case for a company like Nokia

Elmer-DeWitt reports, “For Apple to achieve the kind of growth Sheehy anticipates, however, several things have to happen.”

• Apple has to broaden its offerings
• It must open up the iPhone’s API to allow developers access not just to the device, but to the whole network
• It has to find ways to broaden the market

If all goes according to plan, Sheehy says Apple could soon become #1 in smartphone marketshare and sell 77 million devices in 2013 alone.

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]