Apple could top 100 million iPhone users by 2011

Asavin Wattanajantra

Apple’s customers base may top more than 100 million users next year, with the iPhone 4 set to generate even more sales, according to a report.

According to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said that it saw the iPhone install base rising from around 30 million subscribers at the end of 2009, to 100 million by the end of 2011.

She said that “upgrades will emerge as a key demand driver in the coming years.”

Last week Apple said it received more than 600,000 preorders for the iPhone 4, a faster, thinner and specced-up model out in the UK on June 24.

Demand for the phone may also be driven by the fact that many people still still run the iPhone 3G, which won’t run Apple’s new iOS 4 software.

The iPhone 4 adds new features, like video calling and a sharper screen, and is a fight back against rival phones coming out with comparable systems like Google Android.

It also importantly has a 5-megapixel camera and an LED flash, which many have seen as a failure in previous incarnations of the device.

Apple is also offering the device unlocked from its website, a major change from previously.