iPhone 5's First Weekend Sales in China Top Two Million

[Michael Scrip]

Originally Posted by Boomish69

lol good for Apple then, own 10% of the market, and remain exclusive. Why not design something better and not just thinner, and don't overprice it ($842 in china) and capture a much bigger slice of the market. It just smells of greed and laziness! Thats not the Apple Steve built.

So... Apple should flood the market with cheap crap just to get a bigger number on someone's market share graph?

Guess what... Apple doesn't care what everyone else is doing... they only wanna make great products. And that is EXACTLY what Steve Jobs wanted.

Market share is a method of measuring the entire market done by 3rd parties... usually analysts. I don't think the companies themselves even take that into consideration.

Does Honda really care where they rank on a chart in relation to Toyota?

In short... market share is just an external ranking... that has little to do with the day-to-day operations of a company.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard OSX

Keep in mind China has a population of 1.3 billion...

Who cares? Most of China isn't a first world nation, yet. Well over 40% of the people don't have toilets in their own dwellings and central plumbling for waste removal. And people here are discussing China as having the same conveniences the West expects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_...ublic_of_China

Don't get me wrong, a good 300-500 million have modern amenities [like we had in the 1940s] and are the potential market. Like what was said above, what we consider middle class in the US and above is a fraction of this number. In ten or fifteen years come back and talk about everyone in the urban centers having the iPhone 20 or whatever it will be.

Throwing out total population numbers to minimize this first 2 million in sales is pure ignorance.

[Twixt]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

Citi downgrades Apple while Morgan Stanley says iPhone sales are still very strong and Apple could sell 50m+ this quarter. These clowns really don't have a clue do they.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/meanwh...030416561.html

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And Morgan Stanley says the opposite. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/meanwh...030416561.html

Who you gonna believe?

I know these analysts...
It is not a matter of who is right and who is not, it s a subtile, hard to quantify chemistry based on newsflow, cycles etc
Stock will go up again no doubt but news coming from china dont sound like an outstanding tide!
this 700 usd ceiling will be hard to reach again!

[Bezetos]

"The original iPhone 5 launch weekend took place in September and saw over 5 million sales to the initial 9 countries including the U.S. "

To be honest I think the total population of those initial 9 countries is a lot smaller than the population of China on its own - it has a LOT of people, so 2 millions doesn't seem that impressive.

But still, congrats to Apple.

[clibinarius]

Originally Posted by pinwanger

the majority does not pay income tax or capital gain tax, there is no real estate tax either.

Under such condition, a mere restaurant worker can easily afford these gadgets.

Yes, because mere restaurant workers pay high capital gains.

Oh, and I guess we could get rid of the income tax and real estate taxes if we became communist, right?

[jpadhiyar]

That's a strategically important news (as much as it's financially too). Analysts have been consistently pulling Apple down through their devaluations in the recent past and this number should probably put things to rest for a while. Q4 2012, iPhone is going to top the charts again.

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by iGrip

I just got a Samsung Galaxy S3 for $49.00 at Best Buy yesterday connected to Verizon. It was a one-day sale.

If you could genuinely buy a Samsung Galaxy S3 for $49, then Apple would buy all the S3s in the world and make Samsung bankrupt in a heartbeat. Apple could then send all these S3s to China, where they are taken apart, and batteries, RAM and so on salvaged to be put into iPhones. Probably cheaper than buying the parts from the manufacturer.

What you actually did was enter a contract where you pay some amount of dollars every month for the next 12 or 18 or 24 months, and the difference between the cost of the S3 and your $49, plus some _very_ generous interest, is paid out of that monthly payment.

[Rogifan]

Originally Posted by Bezetos

"The original iPhone 5 launch weekend took place in September and saw over 5 million sales to the initial 9 countries including the U.S. "

To be honest I think the total population of those initial 9 countries is a lot smaller than the population of China on its own - it has a LOT of people, so 2 millions doesn't seem that impressive.

But still, congrats to Apple.

Yes but what percentage of the population would be considered smartphone buyers? It's not 1.3B

I'd be curious to know how many Galaxy S3's were sold the first weekend it was available in China.

[Michael Scrip]

Originally Posted by Bezetos

"The original iPhone 5 launch weekend took place in September and saw over 5 million sales to the initial 9 countries including the U.S. "

To be honest I think the total population of those initial 9 countries is a lot smaller than the population of China on its own - it has a LOT of people, so 2 millions doesn't seem that impressive.

But still, congrats to Apple.

As others have said... just going by the total population is silly.

There are many people in China who are living in poverty... how does that get factored into this?

And what about carriers? The US alone had 3 major carriers selling the iPhone 5.

China only had 2 carriers... and not even their biggest one.

What about 3G coverage? 3G? Yeah... some parts of China don't even have 3G... let alone 4G.

So... you cannot summarize this story by saying "Apple failed by only selling 2 million iPhones in a country of a billion people…"

[Rogifan]

Originally Posted by jpadhiyar

That's a strategically important news (as much as it's financially too). Analysts have been consistently pulling Apple down through their devaluations in the recent past and this number should probably put things to rest for a while. Q4 2012, iPhone is going to top the charts again.

Stock is down $8 pre market due to Citi downgrade, yet Morgan Stanley is bullish: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/exter...&siteid=yhoof2

And the Street published antidotal evidence of packed Apple stores with product flying off the shelves: http://www.thestreet.com/story/11793...o&cm_ven=YAHOO

I guess if Wall Street wants to bring the stock down they'll only focus on FUD and ignore anything remotely positive. It was Wall Street that kept droning on and on about how Apple needed to release a smaller iPad to compete with all these "iPad killers". Then Apple releases the mini and Wall Street frets about the price claiming its too expensive compared to these alleged "iPad killers". Now Wall Street is fretting that Apple is selling TOO many mini's and that will be a drag on margins. It's almost comical at this point the way they spin anything and everything as a negative in order to bring down the stock. Of course once 2013 rolls around and the stock is in the 400s these same people will be telling us to buy buy buy AAPL.

[TallManNY]

Originally Posted by nfl46

Not bad.

Not sure if any other phone sold over 1 million doing their first weekend...

Of course no other phone has ever sold 1 million over a weekend. Android phones are popular but they never sell in quantities like that. And I doubt the Android manufacturers can pull together supplies like that for an opening even if the demand was there.

[Les Kern]

Originally Posted by nonamelive

Not 1.3b any more. At least 1.7b now.

Most of them walking around in their own poop.
Numbers actually are pretty impressive.

[Glideslope]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac Maniac

This is gonna be a killer quarter...

Beyond Killer. Buy AAPL today. Ain't goin lower.

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Originally Posted by haruhiko

800 million out of 1.35 billion people are relatively poor peasants or workers. I say the number is very impressive given the recent report about Android's 90%+ market share in China. Back here in Macrumors a lot of people were bashing Apple in the other thread about the non-existence of waiting lines outside Apple
Stores in China .

They don't understand the new rules with orders in China to suppress riots.

[GenesisST]

Originally Posted by gmanist1000

2 million out of a population of 1.35 billion, doesn't look impressive... but it's a huge number. Now if they could get the phone on China's largest network that has close to 500 million subscribers.

PR department always do that, take which even number sounds better.
- 2,000,000 in China
- 75% of San Marino (made up number, but that would be 24,000)

Not saying this isn't impressive, I'm "just sayin'"...

[paulsalter]

Personally I don't see whats so great about selling a couple of million in the first weekend

If they continue this and sell a million/day for the next days/weeks etc then that is impressive

[JHankwitz]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard OSX

Keep in mind China has a population of 1.3 billion...

Keep in mind that the standard of living and purchasing power of the population is considerabley less then the USA.

[nexusrule]

I really don't understand how all these people coming here to say how many androids phone are sold here and there don't realize how sad and childish they look. I mean, this is an apple website with an apple forum, honestly who cares about how many android phones are sold?

It's like going to a bmw forum to say how cool mercedes are, just because you think mercedes are better. It's your opinion okay, but if you are not an opinion leader nobody but your mother care about what you think.

If you really aren't able to resist the childish urge of screaming to the world what you like and that what you like is the best…what can I say, go visit a shrink, your life will improve. I have never gone to an android forum to scream my opinions about how iOS it's better choice, I would really feel ridicolously self-entitled.

What is better for you, is better for you, not for the rest of the world, get over it. If you really need to persuade other people about the validity of your opinion, only thing that means, is that you are not sure about the validity of it.

[Drunken Master]

Wow.

The smack down was laid in here.

Originally Posted by zukernik

Prices for a 16gb with a 2 year contract in RMB:

66/month 4299 phone
96/month 3999 phone
126/month 3599 phone
156/month 3299 phone
186/month 2999 phone
226/month 2599 phone
286/month 1899 phone
386+/month free phone

Interesting rates.

Here in Taiwan a 16 GB iPhone 5 runs $185 USD subsidized with a $45 a month plan and unlimited data. All iPhones here come factory unlocked and wi-fi tethering is possible as well.

Much cheaper than what I paid with AT&T in the States per month and that was without unlimited data.

[ChrisTX]

Originally Posted by gadget123

And they want to rush out a 5S?

Madness. Iphone 5 is a massive upgrade over the previous Iphones and could easily sell what the Iphone 4 managed.

I think the idea is that by Summer/June, Apples biggest competitors Samsung/HTC will have their flagship phones out that could potentially grab people waiting on the 5S. Plus I always liked the June iPhone launches better. Now it seems like Apple just waits till the fall to refresh their entire product line. iPad in Feb with new iOS version announced, with new iOS launch alongside a new iPhone in June is best IMO.

[Popeye206]

Great news for Apple... too bad nothing seems to make Wall Street happy right now.

[tjl3]

Originally Posted by Michael Scrip

Does Honda really care where they rank on a chart in relation to Toyota?

Yes actually, but w/ regards to segment and market. You can bet they're concerned w/ how many Accords v Camrys or Civics v Corollas they sell against Toyota.

But just the same, Apple is probably concerned only w/ phones competing in the same class, for example the S3, and in the same markets that the iPhone is offered in.

[SnowLeopard OSX]

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Who cares? Most of China isn't a first world nation, yet. Well over 40% of the people don't have toilets in their own dwellings and central plumbling for waste removal. And people here are discussing China as having the same conveniences the West expects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_...ublic_of_China

Don't get me wrong, a good 300-500 million have modern amenities [like we had in the 1940s] and are the potential market. Like what was said above, what we consider middle class in the US and above is a fraction of this number. In ten or fifteen years come back and talk about everyone in the urban centers having the iPhone 20 or whatever it will be.

Throwing out total population numbers to minimize this first 2 million in sales is pure ignorance.

2 Million is less than 0.015% of the population -- weren't iPhone 4S sales higher than that opening week?

[mobilebuddha]

for some reason I thought iphone 4S sales were lower opening weekend. I just can't seem to find any worthy source for that. anyone else?

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard OSX

2 Million is less than 0.015% of the population -- weren't iPhone 4S sales higher than that opening week?

[coolspot18]

Originally Posted by JHankwitz

Keep in mind that the standard of living and purchasing power of the population is considerabley less then the USA.

Yes, but China has 1 million+ millionaires, not bad considering North America has only 3 million. There are also 13 million high income earners too, which is larger than some countries.

[lazard]

People also don't realize the difference in purchasing power in China vs. the US. A person making $36,500/yr in China has the same purchasing power as a US household making roughly $100,000/yr.