“When Apple first made the iPhone available in gold color — with the 5S in 2013—smart observers identified it as a play for the Chinese consumer. And, Tim Cook says, the glitter has proved golden in the world’s largest smart-phone market,” Josh Horwitz reports for Quartz.
“In an interview with the the Hong Kong edition of Bloomberg Businessweek (available only in print), the Apple CEO points to the gold iPhone—subsequent generations of the phone and the iPad are available in that color—as but one example of how the company localized for the Chinese market,” Horwitz reports. “‘A big reason for why we released the gold iPhone as because many Chinese consumers like the color gold,’ Cook told the publication. ‘To be clear, sales for the gold iPhones in China have far, far exceeded other markets.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here in the U.S., we got gold iPhone 5s units, too! For the resale value. 😉 It worked, too!
(We’re back to Space Gray for our iPhone 6 Plus units now. We found that we preferred the classic black-faced iPhone look – it makes the display pop.)
SEE ALSO:
Tim Cook: Chinese tastes considered in Apple product colors, designs – June 22, 2015
Lenovo replaces head of smartphone division as sales slump in China – June 2, 2015
Apple iPhone is No. 1 smartphone in China – May 15, 2015
Samsung implodes in China – May 11, 2015
I like the space grey 6+ myself. It feels natural.
I prefer space grey, but oh well. It’s nice to have options. If Apple would release a 15 inch MacBook Pro in space grey, I would buy one.
Selling a product in a color that a large population wants to buy is “cunning”? Seriously?
Cunning??? Who came up with that derogatory word for the headline? Quite ignorant !
cun·ning
ˈkəniNG/
adjective
1.
having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion.
Cunning is described as a valuable trait in Sun Tzu’s Art of War, as it is in Machiavelli’s The Prince. Garry Kasparov emphasized it in Chess strategy. If there is one thing that sets homo sapiens up at the head of the animal kingdom it is our talent for deceit, the varieties of which are legion. Hell, we invented fiction—oher animals don’t have that. We are so good at it that we continually deceive ourselves, and must pay for therapy when we want to stop it. Recent neurological research indicates that self-deception may even be essential for mental health. If that’s true, maybe being an Apple fanboy isn’t all bad, like the trolls insist.
But apple is not in war with musicians….
Who said anything about music? This was an article about marketing gold phones in China.
love the space gray 6… does make the display pop!
Apple would sell a lot more gold iPhones if they offered a black front face on them. A lot of people choose the pop factor first and that means Space Gray right now. Same for iPads.
I wonder if there will be a gold Watch Sport in the future. Even the Chinese can’t all afford $10,000 for a watch.
Why can’t they make a gold one with the black face? I’m from Pittsburgh, everything I own is black & gold.
Except for your power tools, which ought to be Dewalt, but instead are Ryobi, a sickly slime green. Such a pity.
Ryobi? Pish! I’m a professional.
That’s right. Professionals will wear purple tutus if those are the only work clothes available. And they will wear them with dignity, ignoring the catcalls from passers-by, because they are devoted professionals.