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Dude, I don't get how you Taiwanese STILL feel you are rich or something compared to mainland Chinese TO-DAY. Taiwan's population is like what..that of Beijing? Get over yourself. It ain't 1982 no more.

GDP per capita (2011) China $8,500 vs Taiwan $38,200.

Population below poverty line (2010) China 13.4% vs Taiwan 1.16%.

There is still reason for the Taiwanese to feel richer than the Chinese.
 
The size of China's middle class in absolute numbers is comparable to the US, if not larger. And all of China's middle class is concentrated in the large cities, so it makes even more sense for Apple to build multiple stores in each major city.

Actually only 2% (about 26 million) of Chinese earn equivalent of $30,000 per year so they still have a long way to go and reality is that their economy is cooling down, lots of manufacturing jobs are being automated, and their labor is already getting more expensive compared to other Asian countries. China has made a lot of strides thanks to western investments starting in 1970s and a couple of their cities look very modern and impressive but its a huge country where most westerners in love with Beijing/Shanghai didn't really see whats 100 miles away from the main cities.
 
Actually only 2% (about 26 million) of Chinese earn equivalent of $30,000 per year so they still have a long way to go and reality is that their economy is cooling down, lots of manufacturing jobs are being automated, and their labor is already getting more expensive compared to other Asian countries. China has made a lot of strides thanks to western investments starting in 1970s and a couple of their cities look very modern and impressive but its a huge country where most westerners in love with Beijing/Shanghai didn't really see whats 100 miles away from the main cities.

What you don't get is that when they earn $30,000, they take home $30,000, all of it. The majority does not pay income tax other than the super rich, there is no real estate tax. So think about how much you have to make in U.S. to actually have 30k after taxes.
 
GDP per capita (2011) China $8,500 vs Taiwan $38,200.

Population below poverty line (2010) China 13.4% vs Taiwan 1.16%.

There is still reason for the Taiwanese to feel richer than the Chinese.

These figures doesn't mean anything. Just check the apartment price in Beijing , can Taiwan middle class people afford 100 squares apartment there?
 
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Neat... 360 ..... Almost like the revolving restaurant we have here in Aus.

But why would you wanna stand next to a Geninus ... Standing across is bad enough..
 
What you don't get is that when they earn $30,000, they take home $30,000, all of it. The majority does not pay income tax other than the super rich, there is no real estate tax. So think about how much you have to make in U.S. to actually have 30k after taxes.

What don't you get is that average GDP in China is still only about $8400 compared to around $40,000 to most of the developed western nations such as USA ($48,000) and thats the average of the entire countries. The $30,000 figure I gave earlier in regard to China is for the top 2% of population, not the whole country. Again, only 26 million Chinese make over $30,000. Top 50% in USA makes over $33,000 which is roughly 160 million people. Top 10% (which is about 30 million people) in USA makes over $110,000. So there is still a very large discrepancy. Also, in China they consider people making between $8 to $15 thousand per year to be middle class. In USA that below poverty line. Sure the Chinese goods in China are affordable to its people but an original iPhone in USA that costs $500 will cost more in China yet people there make way less.
 
Hong Kong is also China and Apple product are the cheapest in the world there.




No.

They have very different tax policy in Hongkong. If you calculate the original price by removing the tax part, the prices are the same (or almost). Apple itself doesn't charge more in China.
 
Let me guess, you're Chinese?

Taiwan is it's own country. Maybe you're thinking of Hong Kong.

Also, who over upvoted your post needs to go back to high school geography class. Chinese propaganda states that Taiwan is theirs, but it's not.

=___=



According to what list? It doesn't matter though, the per capita use of Apple products here in Taipei is huge. I go on the subway every day here and a sizeable chunk of people on their phones have iPhones. The majority of tablets I see are iPads. And when I go to Starbucks here, a good chunk of laptops are Macs. Like I said, there are dozens of Apple reseller stores in Taipei alone. This is a common sight here (and they don't sell counterfeit products like in China):

Image

Here we go...

The officially name of Taiwan is Republic of China, so technically it is still China (come on, you guys speak Chinese don't you). Two different governments though.

Talking about high school education, ironically, in the dictionary of Ministry of Education of Taiwan, the geographic area of ROC covers the whole mainland China, with Nanjing being its capital (Taipei instead is only the temporary capital) ... :p

But if you are one of those ********* mainland China trolling guys, ignore me

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i moved to shanghai about 4 months ago and i'm back in the states on vacation. one of my goals is to get the new iphone and the new imac, so i've done the price comparison for these items.

even with the (california) tax included, in the end, the iphone and imac here are still about $150 cheaper than in china. i know that all imports are taxed at least 20-30% and as high as 100%, which is crazy when you see the amount of high-end cars on the street.

it sucks how apple products are considered imports (i understand why) when foxconn is domestic.

yup, it sucks
 
What you don't get is that when they earn $30,000, they take home $30,000, all of it. The majority does not pay income tax other than the super rich, there is no real estate tax. So think about how much you have to make in U.S. to actually have 30k after taxes.

They do need to pay tax. One of my friends living in Shanghai earn 6800 RMB per month and she needs to pay about 2000 for tax
 
Looks like my house. Except the billboard is a giant TV.
A person can dream, can't they?

Gee....wonder why massive/spectacular stores like this one are not built in the USA?

Visit the busiest US store you can find, on the busiest day of the week; now multiply the number of visitors they get, MANY times, to get an idea of the volume of people, China's APPLE stores welcome each day! Mind boggling indeed. Also see da-vid's post below.

The size of China's middle class in absolute numbers is comparable to the US, if not larger. And all of China's middle class is concentrated in the large cities, so it makes even more sense for Apple to build multiple stores in each major city.

Does Apple charge the same pricing in China? How do these people afford Apple products if the average wage is actually below that of a Foxconn worker...

People all over the world, not just in China, will sacrifice in other areas, to purchase products that appeal to them, and APPLE products are no exception to that rule.
 
Here we go...

The officially name of Taiwan is Republic of China, so technically it is still China (come on, you guys speak Chinese don't you). Two different governments though.

Talking about high school education, ironically, in the dictionary of Ministry of Education of Taiwan, the geographic area of ROC covers the whole mainland China, with Nanjing being its capital (Taipei instead is only the temporary capital) ... :p

But if you are one of those ********* mainland China trolling guys, ignore me

Right, this is the ROC, not the PRC. It's not a communist dictatorship here with mainland censorship and blocking of websites on the Internet.

But the fact that I can't find a single bootleg DVD anywhere lets me know I'm really not in China.
 
I remember watching the news and headline story was some politician / businessman using an iphone instead of HTC.

I was like really?! This is news in Taiwan :rolleyes::rolleyes:

That's when you know you live in a safe country.

Right, also most people don't own a car either (though a lot of have scooters). A lot of people are loyal to Taiwanese brands like HTC but the iPhone is the second best selling smartphone here.

They all come factory unlocked here too.



?

All I'm saying is that a real Apple store here is overdue and would perform very well considering the base of Apple users here. Nobody's disputing that there are more multi-millionaires now in China and that Taiwan is not booming like it was, but still. It's disappointing to see Apple focus so much on China and ignore us when the overall quality of life there is lower.
 
I remember watching the news and headline story was some politician / businessman using an iphone instead of HTC.

I was like really?! This is news in Taiwan :rolleyes::rolleyes:

That's when you know you live in a safe country.

Haha, I've never lived in such a safe country as Taiwan. I never feel threatened or unsafe anywhere, even at night, no matter what. I'm a guy though, but even women here can walk alone on the street at midnight and feel safe.

That alone is priceless.

Rich people here are big on the iPhone, like you said. It's everywhere. I see 12-year-olds with an iPhone 4 on the MRT.
 
Browett Make over?

That's Browett in the photo. He's disguised as a Apple employee wondering what it is (iPad) he's looking at! He's wondering whether the pillars will be just as good painted. The female Apple employee looking at him is wondering what he would look like after a thousand cuts (maybe she'll be one of them).

Browett appears to have spent some time at the Stanford Shopping Center branch of GAP and maybe in one of those overpriced Salons on University Ave. He's unrecognisable. Maybe he's intentionally keeping a lower profile.

I say, put him back in a Ploy-cotton shirt & Tie and send him back over here to England; Dixons, Currys & PC World are missing him.
 
There are a lot of people with money in China, despite the large amounts of poor.

But with a population of 1.35 billion, there are millions of people there now who can afford and own Apple products at the same price (well, Apple products are about the same price here in Taiwan as they are in the U.S., even if it is cheaper to ship it here).

You still think there're 1.35 billion people in mainland China? I think the number could be 1.7 billion now.

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When I was in China in June, I went to an apple store, and the prices were actually higher than they are in the US after conversion.

Yes, because the tax is so high in China, especially *imported* products.

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In China, tax has already been included in the price tag, that is why it looks more expensive.

Even though you count the tax, the final price is still higher in China than in US.

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Well it is and it isn't. Hong Kong differs hugely from mainland China. As well as being an SAR It's almost completely Tax Free as well.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen are separated by only a river, but people have huge different life in these two areas.
 
Well it is and it isn't. Hong Kong differs hugely from mainland China. As well as being an SAR It's almost completely Tax Free as well.

You missed something. The first HK$120,000 of annual income is tax-free.

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The very fact that Hong Kong alone has 2 (and will have 3 very soon) Apple Stores, and Hong Kong is in the first round of release of any Apple product since 2011, are solely because of the mainland China visitors buying iPhones, iPads, MacBooks like crazy back to China.

Few years ago nobody in Cupertino knew what Hong Kong was (they may think that it's a mutant of King Kong). There was not a single Apple Store, there had been no iTunes Store for 8 years, with abysmal support service, close to impossible repairs. And everything changed last year.
 
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