Apple Announces December Launches for iPhone 5, iPad Mini, and Fourth-Generation iPad in China

[adamowens798]

Any news when it will be available in North America. I wanna buy but could get in any store

Originally Posted by MacRumors

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Following word earlier this week that the iPhone 5 had received final certification in China, Apple today announced that it will be bringing not only the iPhone 5 but also the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad to the country over the next several weeks.

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China now accounts for 15% of Apple's revenues, making the new product launches a significant development for the company. Apple's Chinese product launches have typically lagged well behind those in other countries, but the company has been working to shorten those gaps. The iPhone 4S launched in China three months after the device's debut, while the third-generation iPad took four months to arrive in the country.

With today's announcement, the iPhone 5 will be arriving in China roughly two and a half months after the initial round of launches, while the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad are coming to China just a month after their debut in the U.S. and other first-round markets.

Article Link: Apple Announces December Launches for iPhone 5, iPad Mini, and Fourth-Generation iPad in China

[xofruitcake]

Originally Posted by UmbraDiaboli

They can't even keep up with demand in the Western world and already decide to launch it in China... GREED.

heh heh, did you read what you wrote? If Apple can produce X unit of Iphone 5 in 4Q, how would launching in China make any more money for them? They are still going to sell X units of Iphone 5 in 4Q. How does GREED come in play here?

I don't think you understand China market. China user forum are full of posts complaining that China is one of the most important market for Apple but yet they are being treated as second class citizens. Selling in China also help make the supply chain more efficient. Right now a fair number of Iphone and Ipad mini are bought in US, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong etc and sent to China for 20-30% over the US list price. By start selling in China, Apple cut off the grey market..

Have fun reading some China msg board equivalent to McRumor and you will have a better perspective..

http://bbs.weiphone.com/thread-htm-fid-466.html

[FreeRange1]

[QUOTE=everything-i;16398105]Well said, Apple products are high end luxury in China where the vast majority of the population could not dream of buying any of them.[COLOR="#808080"]

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I am an expat living in China and can assure you that 10's of millions of middle class AND lower middle class people are buying Apple products. With an extremely high savings rate, they spend above average amounts of their income on "luxury goods". Further, even those that can't afford Apple products will save for a long time to buy one. They most certainly do dream of owning one.

Final point, the Chinese middle class is now larger than that of the US!

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by KirkL

Looks like they've caught up with demand if the US is any indication (and with the US contributing to something like 30% of all iPhone sales, I'd say it probably is...). And just because China is the most populous country doesn't mean the 1.3+ billion population will line up to buy the phone.

No, not all 1.37 billion people of course, but millions will, (as you know, they're not all peasants anymore, living in poverty) and we have to believe APPLE knows their supply chains better than we do.

Originally Posted by everything-i

.....Apple products are high end luxury in China where the vast majority of the population could not dream of buying any of them.....

Make no mistake about it; that 'small' portion of the Chinese population able to afford those 'luxury items', is growing at an incredible rate, as anyone who has travelled to any of China's largest cities lately can confirm, and APPLE knows this all too well. I believe they're on the right track with their roll-out strategy.

[kalsta]

Originally Posted by HobeSoundDarryl

I explicitly said, "nothing against China." I wasn't making a "fair" argument. If we want to make "that's not fair" arguments, then Apple should launch to every country in the world on the same day and we can all enjoy 20+ week wait times together. Would we like that?

So you're saying we're getting better than a fair deal. Doesn't sound like something to complain about if you ask me.

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by kalsta

If you happened to live in China, would you feel the same do you think?

If I lived in China I doubt I'd be able to get my hands on an iPad Mini for a LONG time.

[TeachMeiOS.com]

It will be interesting to see how these products do in China this time. I've been surprised at how low the sales have been in China with past Apple products. I think one of the factors is the price. Chinese companies in the smartphone market specifically have been able to bring relatively competitive phones to market. For example, Xiaomi has a phone that doesn't fully measure up to the iPhone 5 but it's price tag is only $315 US. That's significant. All this to say, it will be interesting to see what happens with these new releases in China.

[jdbr]

Apple should not be expanding the market for its products like the iPad mini until it can actually supply the in the original markets. It really is ridiculous that you can't walk into an Apple Store here in the UK and purchase a product over the counter, but yet they expand the market.
To be honest Apple need to get to get a grip over supply. People will eventually tire of having to wait weeks for Apple products.

[Ashin]

But I can't even buy my girlfriend an iPad Mini for 4 weeks now... and Apple will somehow conjure up stock to sell in the most populous country on Earth?

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Originally Posted by everything-i

Well said, Apple products are high end luxury in China where the vast majority of the population could not dream of buying any of them.

Are we living in the 1950s or something?

[xofruitcake]

Originally Posted by jdbr

Apple should not be expanding the market for its products like the iPad mini until it can actually supply the in the original markets. It really is ridiculous that you can't walk into an Apple Store here in the UK and purchase a product over the counter, but yet they expand the market.
To be honest Apple need to get to get a grip over supply. People will eventually tire of having to wait weeks for Apple products.

What is "original market" for Apple this day? A market that include you and I but not other so that we can get the first crack of the product? If you talk about importance of market to Apple as a company, China should be ahead of Europe since the growth will be much faster in the coming year. So if I were to rank importance of market for Apple it is Asia, US and then Europe. So may be we should make European friend wait for all their stuff until next year 8-))

The supply problem has a lot to do with Apple is pushing to use new technology on everything they deliver now. Ipad mini production is gated by screen. Iphone 5 initial production problem was also the LCD screen but later caused by Foxconn quality control problem. Unless we want 6 months old technology, I think product delay is the fact of life now. Nexus 4 and 10 are also supply constrain as well.

[rollzst]

Apple should have released the iPad to China as one of the first countries, after all the things are made over there!

[thewitt]

Originally Posted by rollzst

Apple should have released the iPad to China as one of the first countries, after all the things are made over there!

It's not that simple in China it takes months of negotiations with the government to bring a new product into the country.

[everything-i]

[QUOTE=FreeRange1;16402665]

Originally Posted by everything-i

Well said, Apple products are high end luxury in China where the vast majority of the population could not dream of buying any of them.[COLOR="#808080"]

----------

I am an expat living in China and can assure you that 10's of millions of middle class AND lower middle class people are buying Apple products. With an extremely high savings rate, they spend above average amounts of their income on "luxury goods". Further, even those that can't afford Apple products will save for a long time to buy one. They most certainly do dream of owning one.

Final point, the Chinese middle class is now larger than that of the US!

This may be so but, as I said, the vast majority of people in China are not middle class. The middle classes though numerous are not a majority of the overall population so the original comment I quoted saying that there are over a billion potential customers was over stating the facts.