Apple Sells 2 Million iPhone 5 Handsets in China, Without Havoc

[Steve Williams]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578184890265435134.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

[Keith_W]

How about some balance?

Apple is now sixth in China in terms of market share, behind a whole bunch of nobodies.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100312909/iPhone_5_Hits_China_as_Apple_Market_Share_Slips

 

[JackD201]

Comparing the less than a handful of iPhones to companies with a plethora of dumb GSM, semi-smart and smart phones in terms of unit market share is a bit ridiculous. They don't compete for the same customers.

Let's see the numbers between Apple and the top 3 models of any company. MyPhones which are more BB clones than anything and lack the functionality of the real smart phones like the top droids and iOs' shouldn't count.

Now if we are talking total dollars, that's another story. Yet until Apple joins the semi-smart or dumb phone market. It's still Apples and Lychees.

 

[amirm]

Comparing the less than a handful of iPhones to companies with a plethora of dumb GSM, semi-smart and smart phones in terms of unit market share is a bit ridiculous. They don't compete for the same customers.

Let's see the numbers between Apple and the top 3 models of any company. MyPhones which are more BB clones than anything and lack the functionality of the real smart phones like the top droids and iOs' shouldn't count.

Now if we are talking total dollars, that's another story. Yet until Apple joins the semi-smart or dumb phone market. It's still Apples and Lychees.

Not in China. Just like how it used to be in US, Apple is absent from the #1 carrier in China, China Mobile. That has given time to other providers to nicely cement their position. China Mobile runs a proprietary network which would have forced a new design which Apple naturally did not want to do.

http://business.financialpost.com/2...hina-as-apples-smartphone-market-share-sinks/

“In absolute terms, this (iPhone 5) launch will certainly result in strong sales for Apple in China. However, in relative terms, I don’t believe it will move the needle enough in market share,” said Shiv Putcha, a Mumbai-based analyst at Ovum, a global technology consultant.

On Friday, just one person was waiting outside the Apple store in Shanghai’s financial district when its doors opened at 9 a.m., a contrast to the launch of the iPhone 4 earlier this year when rowdy crowds pelted a Beijing store with eggs.

[...]

“Apple’s market share declined because of the transition between the iPhone 4S and 5. Their market share will recover (with the iPhone 5), but if you don’t have China Mobile, the significant market share gains will be very difficult,” said Huang Leping, an analyst at Nomura in Hong Kong.

[...]

ANDROID THREAT
Meanwhile, rivals are circling, eating away at Apple’s smartphone market share. Samsung Electronics, Lenovo Group and little-known Chinese brand Coolpad held the top three slots in the third quarter, according to IDC.

All three have relationships with China Mobile and offer smartphone models at different price points. Apple competes exclusively at the high-end, and even there, rivals are rolling out models with China Mobile. Last week, Nokia said it planned to release its latest Lumia smartphone with China’s top carrier, which is also expected to launch Research in Motion’s new Blackberry 10, analysts predict.

“The threat will still come more from the Android camp where they have many vendors already working with China Mobile and offering high-end phones,” said TZ Wong, a Singapore-based IDC analyst.

While these smartphones don’t generate the buzz of a new iPhone, Chinese buyers are not known for their brand loyalty, and this could siphon away users considering an Apple upgrade.

“I’ve used a Blackberry, Android and iOS and, personally, I want to try the Windows 8,” said Andy Huang, a 37-year-old fund manager, who owns most iPad models, an iPhone 4 and a 4S. “I think the Windows 8 is very innovative.”

With a China Mobile deal looking some way off, Apple could always boost market share by offering cheaper models — the basic iPhone 5 will cost 5,288 yuan (US$850) without a contract — though this appears an unlikely route for a high-end brand.

“If they want to expand market share, probably the only way to do it here dramatically would be to put out a lower cost phone,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director at RedTech Advisors. “It’s really uncertain if they’d decide to go that route … Apple’s a mystery in that regard.”

 

[JackD201]

Seems the author and I are saying the same thing. They need to put out dumber phones. Price slashing will cause a flooding of gray market units worldwide.

Not much different from the Nokia case where the rest of the world was GSM (albeit at different bands) and the US and Japan were dominated by different CDMA infrastructures. It's why the US came so late to the SMS party.

As far as China goes, this is a political and not a technological question same as that it is a political question for TV to adopt the EU or JP platforms for digital broadcast. I'm pretty sure the big reds don't give a hoot who dominates the market. This is a country that has seen social media's effects in the middle east. Just think of the ramifications of abandoning their proprietary system might have.........