Apple Forges Agreement With China Mobile 79
Forbes is one of several news sources reporting that Apple and China Mobile have agreed on a plan that will bring the option of iPhones to tens of millions of customers of the Chinese carrier. A separate article contains something that may be at least as interesting as the deal itself, and that's some speculation on what sort of network China Mobile will be using for all those iDevices.
Apple in China (Score:1)
When VW started making cars in the US the price dropped.
Wonder how that will work for prices in China ?
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Apple prices of course. VW is already sold in China
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With trucks from VW?
Rotten Apple (Score:2)
C'mon, the headline is low hanging fruit, right?
Important Bits in TFA (Score:2)
More like 1% (Score:3, Interesting)
Apple currently has 15% market share in the world's largest, and fastest growing, cell phone market. Talk amongst yourselves, discuss.
Except those figures are laughable. Other measures claim 1%...the ones that include the whole of china not just one or two inner city stores. Worldwide Apple marketshare has been flat at 5%-7%
Re:More like 1% (Score:4, Informative)
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In the last 18 mo USA telcos have boosted their standard subsidies and restructured their pricing to support it. It doesn't look like they intend to move away from a high subsidy model.
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Institutionally AT&T increased the spread between their subsidy and non-subsidy plans so that they can do subsidies. They fixed the problem but in the other direction.
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T-Mobile I'd agree has gone the other direction. But remember they merged with MetroPCS they are becoming a high end MVNO / Prepay vendor.
AT&T and Verizon haven't. Rather what they've done is introduced a situation where you:
a) buy the phone
b) pay a year's subsidy
then trade in the phone after 1 year or 8 mo early rather than paying off the remaining year.
That's far more expensive. You are basically giving them more than the surrender cost. That's not a no subsidy model that's just a crazy good de
Simply (Score:1)
And their percentage of mobile revenue and profits?
Plummeting.
English (Score:2)
I'm not so sure that word means what you think it means.
I mean the percentage of mobile revenue and profits is shrinking at a rapid rate, even when considering just *manufacturing* if we include software sales too. The figures are even worse.
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I mean the percentage of mobile revenue and profits is shrinking at a rapid rate
Another stat which you do not have. You can't just wish statistical claims out of the air. You won't get a pony for christmas either, no matter how hard you wish.
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Worldwide Apple marketshare has been flat at 5%-7%
Apple's worldwide market share of what? Phones, mobile phones, smartphones, mobile devices, PCs, jelly beans? With neither a market specified, nor a source of your percentage, your claim is worthless.
Peak Apple 2012 (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple desperately needs to stay relevant with its continues to drop behind in market share worldwide, and is soon to retain relevant only in the relatively small market of the US (UK and Japan maybe) where the high subscription masks the overpriced midrange iPhone. China Mobile does not have high subscription rates
The reality is though is that that this deal is unlikely make much impact (it will result in new sales). The iPhone is already available in China it is about 1% of the market (The claims of 20% apply to measures in a few stores in cites and rightly have been laughed away)
Apple needs to drop its(compete on) price to remain relevant in a worldwide market. Putting last years phone in cheap plasic only helps their bottom line.
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Apple desperately needs to stay relevant with its continues to drop behind in market share worldwide, and is soon to retain relevant only in the relatively small market of the US (UK and Japan maybe) where the high subscription masks the overpriced midrange iPhone. China Mobile does not have high subscription rates
Apple's share of the phone market has grown year after year after year without fail. There is a sub-market called smartphones, that's different.
Apple Following Nokia (Score:2)
Apple's share of the phone market has grown year after year after year without fail. There is a sub-market called smartphones, that's different.
I find it somewhat Ironic that when Nokia occupied the position of owning the Phone market. Apple shareholders *cough* would focus on their presence in smartphone market. It is a telling that shareholders now quote the Phone market...with their plummeting market share in smartphones. The phone market (if you are splitting hairs) is *replacing* the Phone market and smartphones are already overtaken phones this year.
In context of this article...are those in rural china who are still on feature phone going to
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Apple shareholders *cough* would focus on their presence in smartphone market. It is a telling that shareholders now quote the Phone market...with their plummeting market share in smartphones.
When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone his target was to get 1% of the phone market. Not the smartphone market. From people other than Jobs and Apple there has been discussion of all various definitions of market share> Generally with a definition of which market share is being talked about. Though not with you. You don't specify, because usually when you make a claim, you invented it on the spot.
Re:Peak Apple 2012 (Score:5, Interesting)
I live in Japan and it seems like everyone I see has an iPhone.
I just got back from a business trip to Beijing and it seemed like everyone had an iPhone.
But hey, what would I know?
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Becuase revenue and profits should somehow matter on Slashdot. We're mostly techies here, not investors. Market share is a much better metric for things we're interested in.
When I see a company charging significantly more for a marginally better product, I think "price gouging" and "profiteering" not "exceptional company." but maybe that's just me.
Besides, even investors are worried that the ever-decreasing market share is eventually going to catch up to the high-margin pricing model eventually. Maybe t
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When I last visited China, the vast majority of people had Samsung phones.
I saw a particular preference for large screen devices.
IMO it will be difficult to get the Chinese to pay the price of a Galaxy Note for a device with a 4 inch screen.
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I had a friend who worked at the Apple Store in NYC. He said they used to get huge lines of Chinese people every day when they opened who would buy as many iPhones as they'd be willing to sell. Apparently they were jailbreaking the phones and reselling them for huge markups in China. Not sure if this is still going on, but from what he was telling me there's huge demand for iPhones in China.
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Apple has 40% market share in smartphones in the US, but it looks a lot higher when you're just walking around (especially in a big city). I'd assume that's because iPhone users are more likely to be using their phone at any given time.
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It's because iPhone's are very visually consistent, so it's easy to quickly spot them. Other phones are much more mixed so they don't tend to stick in your mind so much.
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Not necessarily. Apple is the profit leader of the whole industry.The market grows faster than Apple can deliver, but money flows in regardless.
Profits vs Market Share (Score:2)
Not necessarily. Apple is the profit leader of the whole industry.The market grows faster than Apple can deliver, but money flows in regardless.
As a consumer the fact that Apple demands higher mark-ups(but shrinking) from carriers to maintain those massive (but shrinking) good for you?
Re: Profits vs Market Share (Score:2)
In the US, most consumers don't pay more for the iPhone than an equivalent Android. The carrier has to pay a higher subsidy to Apple. It may be argued that it causes all prices to go up across the board but not just Apple users.
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Re: Profits vs Market Share (Score:3, Informative)
Neither the s4 or the HTC One have the performance levels of the 5s.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/5
Their performance comes nowhere near the iPhone 5s.
And are you rea
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I just got a Galaxy S4 ($50 on Amazon) and I have had zero lag in anything I have tried. Is the 5s faster, yes, is it noticeable in everyday use, not really. Just like with everyday use of desktops, the AMD A10 series is plenty fast for general desktop use, even though in benchmarks a Core i5 smokes it. However, unless you are running something very demanding, which most people don't, they won't see a difference.
A
Re:Peak Apple 2012 (Score:4, Insightful)
They don't need to fight an attrition battle for market share - they just need to keep enough high-end users so that their platform remains the preferred launch point for developers. They don't need the most users - they need the most users who actually purchase apps.
So long as they can keep that position, they have no incentive to drop margins.
iPhoe loses developers (Score:2)
They don't need to fight an attrition battle for market share - they just need to keep enough high-end users so that their platform remains the preferred launch point for developers.
Except Android already had more Applications than Apple so it cannot be true, and this divide is set to grow, In China for example...who is going to produce local applications for 1% of the population. This is simply another example why Apple needed to maintain market share.
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There may very well be "more" Applications, but I've yet to see the big money launch "Android First". I've seen numerous analysis papers which conclude that most money in the Android ecosystem is made on free apps through advertising.
My bias is as an Android user but Apple stockholder.
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lol
Mobile is a two horse race between Apple and Samsung [slashgear.com], anyone who believes anything else is deluded.
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Apple desperately needs to stay relevant with its continues to drop behind in market share worldwide
On the contrary, Apple has nearly 100% market share in one specific market - people who have money and who are happy to spend it. Of course Android totally dominates Apple in the "poor freeloading pirate" market, which I'm sure has Apple very very worried.
Re:Peak Apple 2012 (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple desperately needs to stay relevant with its continues to drop behind in market share worldwide...
Apple continues to grow their sales and Apple continues to pull in more profit than any other manufacturer (and only one other manufacturer is even close - all others are MILES AND MILES behind). Despite their market share being watered down due to cheap, inferior, "smartphones" that are really just feature phones running Android. I mean, really, for anyone using a top end smartphone, would you ever use, as your regular phone, one of the cheap options that are out there watering down the market share numbers? Do you seriously even vaguely put them in the same category as an iPhone or Galaxy S4 or HTC One?
I don't think Apple really cares about losing the bottom end of the market to subpar phones and I find it immensely amusing that people still think their loss of market share despite increasing sales is of any concern to them. If you think Apple cares about losing to a market in which they aren't even competing, then you're not paying attention.
Or, to put it in a car analogy so people understand, do you think that BMW and Audi care about $15k and less cars being sold? Protip: No. No they do not.
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You seem not to understand that mature markets are capable of sustaining relatively high-value premium products. Not Rolls-Royce or Ferrari or Zondas: BMW, Mercedes. There are plenty of those sold. Lots of car aficionados will tell you that most Beemers and Mercs are poor value and only idiots buy them. Well, there's enough idiots to sustain plenty of profits (and most of those idiots would snort with derision at people who tell them they've bought "the wrong car", just as iPhone users will do to AndroidBor
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"smartphones" that are really just feature phones running Android
Wow! You're a fuckwit. Even the cheapest shittest android phone is still a smartphone. I'd love to hear your definition of a smartphone that covers the first gen iphone, but doesn't include current low end androids.
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Apple needs to drop its(compete on) price to remain relevant in a worldwide market.
Apple is one of only 2 manufacturers making a profit from smartphones. The other being Samsung. And Apple's profits are much larger than Samsung's. So why on earth would Apple need to do anything to compete with companies that are doing far worse than they are?
What excellent product? iPhone? HAHAHAHA (Score:1)
iPhone is only "excellent" because Apple ads say it is. Most owners have never tried other smart phones to compare.
From a Chinese (Score:1)
I live in China in a medium city in the north. There is already many iPhone in China, among people in upper and middle class cities. Really rural poor city people doesn't have iPhone but most people in smaller cities (maybe 30%). So other than rural west Apple is popular here. And if you ask to anyone what phone do you want most say iPhone 5s.
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lemme guess, they want the Gold iphone right?
Forbes is one of several news sources... (Score:2)
Well that's nice and all, but considering the recent history of reports that subsequently did not happen, it would certainly have been good to mention that Apple issued a press release announcing this yesterday.
"iPhone" sold cheap on Shenzhen web sites (Score:1)
No need for Apple to make deals with China Mobile. Found "[i]Phone" for $35 on Chinese web site--and it has a removable battery and dual SIM slots.
Chinese ain't gonna buy Apple branded stuff when the above phone sez on the back, "Designed by Phone in California..."