Tim Cook May Not Know Why, But Samsung Is Winning in China 327
An anonymous reader writes with this interesting snippet about the state of mobile tech in China: "Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook believes that 'over the arc of time' China is a huge opportunity for his pathbreaking company. But time looks to be on the side of rival Samsung Electronics, which has been around far longer and penetrated much deeper into the world's most populous country. Apple this week said its revenue in Greater China, which also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, slumped 43 per cent to $4.65 billion from the previous quarter. That was also 14 per cent lower from the year-ago quarter. Sales were weighed down by a sharp drop in revenues from Hong Kong. "It's not totally clear why that occurred," Cook said on a conference call with analysts. Neither is it totally clear what Apple's strategy is to deal with Samsung – not to mention a host of smaller, nimbler Chinese challengers."
Here's the reason... (Score:1, Insightful)
It's cheaper for what you get (ton more features, and they don't need to be babied like North Americans / other i users).
It has a pressure sensitive stylus for writing asian languages.
It's an asian company. While they might hate Koreans, they hate US people even more.
Stupid company is stupid.
Captcha: Liberty
Re:It's because... (Score:4, Insightful)
Chinese people buy these things, too. I've been there and seen it done.
Give the people what they want... and cheaply. (Score:3, Insightful)
There are two reasons why people I know (myself included) have not bought Apple products.
1. Give us a bigger screen. My wife loves her iPhone and is looking at upgrading to whatever comes next, but after using my Galaxy S3 she would rather lose her familiarity with iOS (and all the apps she has paid for) to get a screen she can actually read.
2. Don't charge the $200 Apple premium. After being dicked around by Telcos, more and more people are buying their phones outright. It's not until you do this, that you suddenly see that an Apple iPhone is over $200 more expensive for a product (like the Galaxy S4, or the HTC One) which is better specced, but far cheaper.
People buying outright is also the same reason people aren't upgrading as much any more. You used to get a new phone every 2 years for free on some contracts, but with the premium commonly being charged people are happy to hold on for three/four years - or until their phone goes bang.
Not putting iOS 7 onto 3GS models is a smart move - it stops all those laggards from upgrading their OS, and forces them to start upgrading their hardware.
Re:Cost (Score:2, Insightful)
The average citizen ins't a market. Chinese with incomes above a certain level are the market, and that market is still growing.
Re:My question... (Score:5, Insightful)
I was in China last month, and asked... (Score:5, Insightful)
Almost everyone I asked said that the iPhone screen was too small.
They also said⦠"Why is the iPhone so expensive when it has such a small screen?"
You can buy an Android phone with a gorgeous 5.7" display for half the cost of the iPhone in China. That was the biggest screen I found and it looked more vibrant than the screen on my iPhone 5.
If Apple wants to keep selling phones in China, they need bigger screens. Therefore, you can expect there will be a big screen iPhone. The Chinese market is too big for them to ignore. There's lots of competition now and Chinese consumers have zero brand loyalty.
Re: Is that part of an overall prediction? (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe the iPhone size is pretty good. In fact, a cell phone with a screen bigger than 4,3 feels oversized in my opinion.