“While China is no longer the mobile industry’s unstoppable growth machine, it could become the next profit frontier,” Mark Milian reports for Bloomberg. “From October 2014 to March 2015, the average price of a smartphone sold in China jumped dramatically, according to data from research firm IDC. It went from $192 in the third quarter of 2014 to $239 in the fourth and then $263 in the first quarter of 2015.”
“The unexpected change can be attributed primarily to Apple, says Bryan Ma, an analyst at IDC,” Milian reports. “The company added more expensive models with bigger screens that were so popular, they actually moved the huge Chinese market substantially and helped Apple rocket into first place there. ‘The most recent increases are a reflection of the popularity of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus,’ says Ma, citing IDC data.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Unexpected to whom?
A year and a half ago, nine months before iPhone 6/Plus were unveiled, when we inelegantly asked Tim to shit or get off the pot, we had an inkling that larger screen iPhones would do rather well.
And India can’t be far behind!
I do not expect the same rate of growth in Apple iPhone sales in India as in China – smaller middle-class and less disposable income. The aspiration is present, but not the wealth.
But, over time, I agree that the iPhone will gain ground in other countries like India.
Here’s the thing about India: it still has the potential to be the next great emerging market after China… but sadly, the country is crippled with bureaucracy, red tape, vested interests etc. that are holding it back economically. At least China (whatever its faults) had the political willpower of the government to make things happen. India doesn’t have that at the moment.
The Chinese aren’t cheap. They seek value. Apple will do well.
Everyone seeks value. It’s just a question of WHAT you value. The Chinese value status and trustworthiness.
However, if one were to define cheap as stingy and self-centered… or any person who resorts to dishonesty, cheating, or to gain profit would be considered cheap in my books.
Whether Chinese people ( generally ) fit that bill or not, I don’t know.
I have seen a report on how the larger screens are easier for writing Chinese. That makes a lot of sense, and I can see why the large screen iPhone has taken off. I still think it was smarter for Apple to concentrate on 64 bit and TouchID first. It was easy for Apple to catch up on screen size. It will be hard for Android to catch up on the inside tech. Touch ID with Find my iPhone gives iPhone a level of security that Android can’t match.
Easier for writing English too. However, most speakers of languages that use roman characters tend to type rather than write out what they mean.
iPhone 6/Plus are NOT more expensive than previous generations. In fact the 64GB model is $100 LESS expensive than the iPhone 5S model cost. And the 128GB model costs the SAME as the 64GB iPhone 5S. So how are any of the 6 models more? They are not. They are in fact LESS or entry same expensive by any matrix. Ok I’ll give you the 6 Plus is $100 more across storage sizes. But not compared to less storage in the 5S line.
This is not the first time this has happened. In Japan, phones used to be exclusively brought from the home country manufacturers. The iPhone came in and turned that upside down. Apple beat the Japanese at their own game of quality and value. Therefore it is not surprising that this is happening in China. It helps that there are 4BB Chinese in the country and whilst the middle class may be smaller in percentage wise than the US, the total number of potential customers is huge.
I think it’s a slightly different force at play in China than Japan, though. There is a fundamental distrust among many Chinese of other Chinese. The Chinese value rarity, like all of is. In China, trust is rare. They’re also brand and status conscious. There is status involved in owning an iPhone. It’s a recognized brand with a trustworthy reputation. It’s a safe choice.
Japan, on the other hand, is a very brand-conscious and has historically appreciated, and been willing to pay for, quality. As Apple gained more and more cachet, it became harder and harder to ignore Apple.
Once word got out that Apple values quality, they bought en masse.
Most Japanese feel that foreign brands don’t provide the quality the Japanese consumer demands. Most of the time, they’re right… as Japan has for hundreds of years agonized over the little details in most of their arts and engineering.
So it appears that Asia is changing the lyrics of the great Vapors song!
I’m turning American
I think I’m turning American
I really think so
I’m turning American
I think I’m turning American
I really think so
I’m turning American
I think I’m turning American
I really think so
I’m turning American
I think I’m turning American
I really think so
Maybe it sounds better in Mandrin…