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Apple Adds Credit Options for Chinese Buyers

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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beijingstore-500x333.jpg
Apple today added installment payment plans to its online store in China, giving Chinese buyers the option to purchase iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks via credit.

Consumers can choose to pay in installments on merchandise that costs between 300 yuan ($48) and 30,000 yuan ($4,800), through a plan from China Merchants Bank Co.

As Bloomberg notes, the credit option puts expensive devices like the iPad and the iPhone into the reach of Chinese workers, who often cannot afford to purchase Apple's devices.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is trying to make its products more affordable in China after being surpassed by local suppliers such as ZTE Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. in the smartphone market. The iPhone 5, released in China last month, is priced at 5,288 yuan on Apple's local site, equal to about six weeks' pay for the average urban worker.

"There is an enormous mid-range consumer market that they are not tapping into," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting Ltd., a Beijing-based market research firm. "They're trying to figure out how to make products more accessible to that market segment. This is a good step in that direction."
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In the Foxconn factories where Apple's mobile devices are assembled, junior level workers make approximately 1,800 yuan per month, which means the iPad and the iPhone are nearly unattainable without an installment option

Apple is currently offering payment plans over three, six, 12, 18, and 24 months. A promotion that lasts through January 23 makes payment plans lasting a year or less interest free. Payment plans with 18 installments incur a fee of 6.5 percent of the selling price, and 24 installment plans have a fee of 8.5 percent.

Article Link: Apple Adds Credit Options for Chinese Buyers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/16/apple-adds-credit-options-for-chinese-buyers/
macingman

macingman

macrumors 68020
Jan 2, 2011
2,147
3
Should make it accessible for many more Chinese people which may not have savings but may include it in their regular wage.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,558
6,058
This should help Apple make more sales of all their hardware, Macs included, not just iOS devices, correct?

Sounds like a win for developers of either (or both) platforms to me :)
 
I

iMikeT

macrumors 68020
Jul 8, 2006
2,304
1
California
How about every employer in the world paying its employees a living wage and then some so people don't have to resort to payment plans? Seriously, how much are some of these payment plans in relation to a Chinese person's monthly income, 20%? 50%?
 
velocityg4

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,329
4,717
Georgia
iMikeT said:
How about every employer in the world paying its employees a living wage and then some so people don't have to resort to payment plans? Seriously, how much are some of these payment plans in relation to a Chinese person's monthly income, 20%? 50%?
Click to expand...

You can help by not purchasing products from these companies. Then spend more for products from competitors that pay their employees better.
 
M

MrDc2

macrumors regular
Jan 6, 2013
138
0
I would hate to live in China. That is freaking ridiculous. I don't care if they're factory workers or service people; they should earn a livable wage. What they make is just nonsense. I am an American though and I have no business telling the Chinese what to do or how to run their country.

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iMikeT said:
How about every employer in the world paying its employees a living wage and then some so people don't have to resort to payment plans? Seriously, how much are some of these payment plans in relation to a Chinese person's monthly income, 20%? 50%?
Click to expand...

Corporate greed will never end. I don't care if they operate in a socialist, community or capitalist country... it will always exist.
 
Koodauw

Koodauw

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2003
3,951
190
Madison
I dont understand how this makes it more obtainable. It still costs the same, and the workers income stays the same.

If you cant afford to save $50 a month to save and buy an iPad, how can you afford $50 a month to make the payments on the iPad you now own. :confused:
 
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velocityg4

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,329
4,717
Georgia
Koodauw said:
I dont understand how this makes it more obtainable. It still costs the same, and the workers income stays the same.

If you cant afford to save $50 a month to save and buy an iPad, how can you afford $50 a month to make the payments on the iPad you now own. :confused:
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It's even worse since now a desperately poor person had even less money due to interest.
 
iSayuSay

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,792
906
Koodauw said:
I dont understand how this makes it more obtainable. Its still costs the same, and the workers income stays the same.

If you cant afford to save $50 a month to save and buy an iPad, how can you afford $50 a month make the payments on the iPad you now own. :confused:
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They actually don't own their iPad until they solve the whole installment. And 24 months later, their iPad is getting old, crappy and needs to be replaced.

It's even worse than 2 years iPhone contract since it doesn't come with data plan. They pay for the iPad alone.
Moral of the story : don't buy electronics unless you can pay them for 6 months top.
 
iLondoner

iLondoner

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2012
366
324
London (the big one, not London Ohio, Texas, Kentu
MrDc2 said:
I would hate to live in China. That is freaking ridiculous. I don't care if they're factory workers or service people; they should earn a livable wage.
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They do earn a living wage... for China.

But Chinese living wages are for housing, food and essentials. And the last time I checked, buying BMWs, going on world cruises, or buying the latest techno products aren't classed as essentials.
 
M

MrDc2

macrumors regular
Jan 6, 2013
138
0
iLondoner said:
They do earn a living wage... for China.

But Chinese living wages are for housing, food and essentials. And the last time I checked, buying BMWs, going on world cruises, or buying the latest techno products aren't classed as essentials.
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Did I say luxury cars, world cruises and buying techno products were essential to life or are you putting words in my mouth? Yes that was a rhetorical question.

Junior level workers make 1500 yuan (248 dollars) ( 186 EUR ) a month WITH mandatory over-time. Average rent in Shanghai/Beijing is 2000-3000 yuan per month for a small apartment not to mention cost of basic living essentials like hygiene products and food.

It's easy to say that's all good and well while sitting at a desk chair in Europe.
 
thekev

thekev

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2010
7,005
3,343
Blah if you were making so little per day, would you really want to spend so much of it on a phone? If anything it seems more likely to work for the engineers and higher level workers.
 
Sardonick007

Sardonick007

macrumors regular
May 18, 2011
239
2
Next time you hear somebody say China is 3rd world and full of poor people, slap them with an 800 iphone and show them how much of the U.S. China actually owns. (let alone Dubai) Soon we're going to be eating rice and making faux products to keep up with the world economy.
 
L

lukecro

macrumors member
Feb 27, 2009
45
0
NYC
Apple should give all of its Foxcon/factory workers free iPhones and/or iPads... Seems a bit cruel that they have to spend 50 hours/week building iDevices that they never actually get to use and will never be able to afford. Given Apple's high profit margins on these devices, it wouldn't really cost them that much to give their low-paid employees a free last-generation iPod touch or something every once in a while. So they can own an example of what they're making by the millions. (Or, historically, see Ford's old idea that anyone working at a Ford car factory should be paid enough that they can afford to buy a Ford.)
 
Sardonick007

Sardonick007

macrumors regular
May 18, 2011
239
2
All the news about the poor workers is hilarious. First off, they're not so poor, and second, nobody held a gun to their head and said "don't amount to anything but a factory worker". Same goes for all the blue collar whiners in the states hiding behind the vale of union malarkey. Get an education, get a better job and quit blaming those that have skills or positions for your BS. If people in China can afford an iPhone, then by all means they should be able to get one without people pitching a fit. Besides, they own most of what you're sitting on, computing on, walking in, wearing and eating (if you're unlucky enough to eat chickedy china).
 
R

raptorstv

macrumors 6502
Mar 24, 2011
377
0
Koodauw said:
I dont understand how this makes it more obtainable. It still costs the same, and the workers income stays the same.

If you cant afford to save $50 a month to save and buy an iPad, how can you afford $50 a month to make the payments on the iPad you now own. :confused:
Click to expand...

Dont forget that some people would spend more than they can afford...
 
C

coolspot18

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2010
1,051
90
Canada
macingman said:
Should make it accessible for many more Chinese people which may not have savings but may include it in their regular wage.
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The Chinese save more than the average American, in fact they have one of the highest rates of savings in the world.

But obviously the iPhone is an expensive purchase for even the middle class still.

iMikeT said:
How about every employer in the world paying its employees a living wage and then some so people don't have to resort to payment plans? Seriously, how much are some of these payment plans in relation to a Chinese person's monthly income, 20%? 50%?
Click to expand...

Cost of living in China is still lower than in Europe of the United States. The iPhone is an import and will remain expensive... just like how European imports are expensive in North America or vice versa.

China has a middle class of ~300,000,000 people ... and probably a couple million super rich. The size of the luxury market is growing like crazy in China, so Apple is just trying to get a piece of it.
 
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dontwalkhand

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,374
2,863
Phoenix, AZ
So now we are teaching the Chinese the true American way, mounds of credit card debt is the answer to attaining products you can't afford!
 
charlituna

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
iMikeT said:
How about every employer in the world paying its employees a living wage and then some so people don't have to resort to payment plans? Seriously, how much are some of these payment plans in relation to a Chinese person's monthly income, 20%? 50%?
Click to expand...

How about you stop acting like having a smart phone is a right rather than a privilege

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MrDc2 said:
I would hate to live in China. That is freaking ridiculous. I don't care if they're factory workers or service people; they should earn a livable wage.
Click to expand...

Who says they don't. Just because they can't spend $1000 at the drop of a hat doesn't equal them being immorally underpaid etc
 
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