Maybe I'm clueless. I thought China is POOR. Most don't even have a car. They are getting cheap $7000 cars now. How can millions of people afford a $600 iPhone and monthly plan (or subsidized... whatever... either way you pay for it).
And do you think the AAPL stock will go crazy when this happens?
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The phone will be released here for approximately 225USD. It will require a contract and yes, will be subsidized. This is for the 8GB version of the phone. About a month ago I purchased a 3G net card for the computer and it cost ¥1600 for one year of service with 10 hours of usage per day, unlimited data transfer. Not sure how they are going to work this. Most of the users over here are just on a pay as you go plan so I am curious to find out if the data access will be the only thing that requires a contract.
The iPhone is already here in mass quantities. The carrier unlocked versions are brought in from Hong Kong or the lucky people that can get out on a Hong Kong passport go there and buy them. Every weekend while I am out and about I see them in use. I went in to Hong Kong to get my phone as well and have been using it on China Mobile's network. Only thing that sucks is that the data is GPRS and is not as fast as 3G. But at least I have data access so all is good.
Yes, there are LOTS of poor people in China but then again, there are LOTS of people that have a lot of money. Most people do not have cars here because it costs a fortune to own one. On the flipside though there are people that have Hummers and other vehicles which cost in the neighborhood of 80,000.00 plus USD that get taxed 100% when they are imported. Not only that the roads and highways are not setup to support a lifestyle like we are accustomed to in the West. Mass transit here in China is phenomenal.
Getting back to the money part of things. Life in China is far different from life in the West. We have houses and car payments and all sorts of other burdens that a lot of people here do not have. So while people make significantly less money they tend to be able to buy some things that would be considered unaffordable. You see lots of people walking around with PSP's and other gear that you would think would be way out of their price range.
The people here LOVE the iPhone. Two weeks ago while I was in DongGuan I went into a shopping mall that was wall to wall counterfeit iPhone shops. The word iPhone was EVERYWHERE. Of course, the phones looked pretty damn convincing until you turned it on and saw that gawdawful software running on them. The "techni-color" color scheme was enough to make me barf. The touch screen was also damn near perfect. Not the same pillowy face like I have seen on a lot of the knock-offs. Of course, the factory that produces the touch screens is right in DongGuan so I am sure that there is some knowledge transfer taking place locally.
Anyways, I think the iPhone will be a huge success here. I will be on the train fiddling with it and I will hear people go "oh! ping guo (哦!苹果!). They really like Apple stuff. At least the phone will be priced decently. The computers here are so taxed and marked up that they cost double what you pay in the U.S. People have asked me to buy one in the U.S. while I am home and bring them back. 13" Macbook Pro's run a cool ¥13,000 at the few stores that I have seen that sell them.
