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

[inscrewtable]

I doubt you have been to NYC.

I have not. Yet through the magic of technology I am still able to know what it looks like, especially with regards to not being surrounded by mountains. Isn't that amazing. But it wasn't meant to be a dig at NYC it was meant to be an appreciation of the background view and simple houses. There is more to quality of life than owning more and more gadgets.

 

[mobilebuddha]

there is real estate tax, just not each year. However, it's almost obvious to see that they are slowly shifting the policy toward that end goal.

income tax comes into play after 4500 RMB/month, i forgot what the capital gains tax was but I believe there is one. A mere restaurant worker cannot easily afford an iphone 5, please stop smoking crack.

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.

----------

What?...."China is a Germany or UK attached to a dirt poor country"....eh?

I think the way he's describing China is by saying there's a group of people that's wealthy, middle class, etc (population similar to that of Germany or UK), but then you got a billion poor people that you have to deal with. I wouldn't have come up with that description myself but I actually think it's fairly accurate.

 

[RobertMartens]

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

Not sure where you are getting your numbers from

China is at about 1.350 billion now and is supposed to meet India at 1.500 billion in about 20 years. That will be China's maximum and start decreasing from there.

 

[iMikeT]

Good news, yet AAPL is still taking a beating in the premarket.

 

[bungiefan89]

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.

The snootiness of this post makes me want to go out and buy an iPhone just to prove this twit that even a "mere college student" can easily afford one of these gadgets.

But I won't.

Because I won't do a twit's bidding, and I just don't like smartphones.

 

[nexusrule]

Just to say

the GDP per capita in USA is $48,386, in Germany is $41,168, in UK is $38,591, in France is $40,690. In China is $5,413.

 

[Sabenth]

2 million sales on one weeked is impressive in anyone's normal number crunching pie chart excel sheet plus.

 

[Mike MA]

And most of the Chinese population live in conditions like this:

So 2 million the first weekend is fine considering their addressable market.

And don't forget... this was just the first weekend. Apple will keep selling iPhones in China from now on.

China will be a good market for Apple.

I absolutely agree with you that China is good market for Apple and will most likely be an even better one in the near future.

But as you have demonstrated by now the iPad and iPhone is only a toy affordable by the Chinese elite.

 

[Fruit Cake]

2 million? I guess the scalpers have been working overtime!

 

[Michael Scrip]

But as you have demonstrated by now the iPad and iPhone is only a toy affordable by the Chinese elite.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Apple has never been about "cheap" products. Hell... their laptops start at $1000. That ought to tell ya something about their business.

 

[quik]

Just came back from a business trip in China (both Shanghai and Beijing) and there were no massive lineups during weekend.

It's a lot of money for those Chinese people and most of them that I alked to are waiting for next version to upgrade. They tell me it wasn't worth it.

 

[Boomish69]

Android sold 140 million handset in China this weekend? Is that what you ate saying?

er nope I said selling 2 million isn't big news when Apples sales are a drop in the ocean of Android users..it will hardly make a dent. Thats my basic point.

 

[quik]

Have you ever been to China? last time I went, everyone and their mother had a smart phone and I wasn't even in the richest Chinese cities.

Agree.

Most of them will spend a full month salary to make sure they got one.

 

[cdmoore74]

Does not sound like good news if Apple was able to sell 4 million iPhone 4s models in the same time period.

“iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days,”

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/17iPhone-4S-First-Weekend-Sales-Top-Four-Million.html

 

[iGrip]

Overpriced?

of course Apple should have the same amount of sales, because there is no difference between [a huge variety of] Android phones that cost $80 and a company that only sells expensive high-end smartphones like Apple.

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

I wish that they had the HTC One X on Verizon, but the Sammy is still one of the better phones out there.

I could have gotten the iPhone cheaper, but I splurged for the $50 SOTA S3. The i4 is just too slow and clunky, despite being the el-cheapo option. I guess when it comes to phones, you get what you pay for. iPhones are el-cheapo phones (except for one model). The S3 usually goes for $200.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Does not sound like good news if Apple was able to sell 4 million iPhone 4s models in the same time period.

“iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days,”

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/17iPhone-4S-First-Weekend-Sales-Top-Four-Million.html

The iPhone 4S sold 4 million in its opening weekend... in 7 countries. And some of those countries had the iPhone on up to 4 different carriers.

Today we're talking about 2 million in China alone... on only 2 carriers.

Impressive... no?

And I know we're only talking about this because Apple put out a press release. The launch weekend is important... but what about next week, next month and next year?

I don't know why we're so focused on 3 days when there are 30 days in the month and 90 days in the quarter.

The point is... Apple will be selling a ton of iPhones in China.

 

[Boomish69]

I dont know where to start with this comment. If you want to criticize at least polish your words a bit so they look more credible.

a) 2 million iphone5s probably worth more than 50 mil Android phones.
b) Android is not a carrier.
c) Please tell me other Android brands that racked up a 2 million sales in ONE WEEKEND. The Galaxy s3 took 4-5 months to reach 10 mil.

I said selling 2 million isn't big news when Apples sales are a drop in the ocean of Android users..it will hardly make a dent. Thats my basic point.
I hope thats polished enough for you. I could write it with a flowery font if you like.

I think thats fair criticism..sometimes there is just too much wow look what we sold, and not enough lets improve our design and offer a better deal from Apple. Samsung don't release weekend sales figures,as far as I could see, not that I would be interested anyway.
And to your point a: read every financial post about Apple's dwindling market share and how the iPhone 5 is overpriced in China. I can't see 2 million iPhones being worth 50 million android users! they have the biggest possible market in the world and Apple is giving it away, it's painful to watch.

I have it here in the UK with most of my friends buying S3's at Christmas as they won't justify the price of an iPhone. Fed up with trying to defend and convince people how good the iPhone is to the plastic S3..

 

[SleepyCasper]

Does not sound like good news if Apple was able to sell 4 million iPhone 4s models in the same time period.

“iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days,”

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/17iPhone-4S-First-Weekend-Sales-Top-Four-Million.html

I think IP5 got ~5 mil in the first weekend. That's not bad at all. Yes. Android got a massive increase in the past year. But what I see is both are growing. Both are good devices. You choose what you need.

 

[iGrip]

How does that benefit the consumer?

The more profit that Apple makes, the better able they are to bring us great products.

And a high stock price proves that we make good lifestyle choices when we stick with Apple!

 

[Michael Scrip]

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

I wish that they had the HTC One X on Verizon, but the Sammy is still one of the better phones out there.

I could have gotten the iPhone cheaper, but I splurged for the $50 SOTA S3. The i4 is just too slow and clunky, despite being the el-cheapo option. I guess when it comes to phones, you get what you pay for. iPhones are el-cheapo phones (except for one model). The S3 usually goes for $200.

Actually... the Galaxy SIII usually goes for $580

Don't get caught up in American subsidies.

When the earlier comment was referencing $80 phones in China... I think he was talking about actual $80 phones sold in China.

Lotta cheap crap out there.

 

[SleepyCasper]

I said selling 2 million isn't big news when Apples sales are a drop in the ocean of Android users..it will hardly make a dent. Thats my basic point.
I hope thats polished enough for you. I could write it with a flowery font if you like.

I think thats fair criticism..sometimes there is just too much wow look what we sold, and not enough lets improve our design and offer a better deal from Apple. Samsung don't release weekend sales figures,as far as I could see, not that I would be interested anyway.
And to your point a: read every financial post about Apple's dwindling market share and how the iPhone 5 is overpriced in China. I can't see 2 million iPhones being worth 50 million android users! they have the biggest possible market in the world and Apple is giving it away, it's painful to watch.

I have it here in the UK with most of my friends buying S3's at Christmas as they won't justify the price of an iPhone. Fed up with trying to defend and convince people how good the iPhone is to the plastic S3..

I think just different needs. Android people in Hong Kong mainly go for Note 2 and S3 is relative weak than Note 2 here.

 

[Boomish69]

That's ok. 140 million android devices yield about the same profit than 2 million iPhone (not counting iPads here).

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.

 

[Kukulcan]

I said selling 2 million isn't big news when Apples sales are a drop in the ocean of Android users..it will hardly make a dent. Thats my basic point.

A drop = ca. 0.05 ml
The ocean = about 1,345,000,000,000,000,000,000 ml

Sorry for the metric measurements, but this should show how wrong this picture is with the number of android phones from several manufacturers not even being a number of magnitude higher (two for china) than those of a single company.

 

[gnasher729]

I said selling 2 million isn't big news when Apples sales are a drop in the ocean of Android users..it will hardly make a dent. Thats my basic point.

And that point of yours is stupid.

First, because this site is about MacOS X and iOS, and two million iPhones sold in three days is two million iPhones sold in three days, which is probably $1.5bn in revenue which almost all CEOs in the world would die for.

Second, because there is no ocean of Android users. There is a ******** of people buying cheap phones that happen to be running Android, not to use Android, but to make phone calls. And these phones are totally irrelevant to Apple's market.

Third, because people start figuring out that holding a 4.something Galaxy phone to your head while making a phone call makes you look like an idiot. Even Samsung is figuring that out.

When the earlier comment was referencing $80 phones in China... I think he was talking about actual $80 phones sold in China.

Lotta cheap crap out there.

I wouldn't say "cheap crap" per se. If all you want to do is make phone calls, then I would hope that a $80 phone would do that just fine. If you want an alternative to an iPhone, then of course that $80 phone would turn out to be cheap crap (for doing things that you want an iPhone for).

 

[KPOM]

What?...."China is a Germany or UK attached to a dirt poor country"....eh?

I.e. there are about 75 million people who live at Western standards of living (with similar incomes), while much of the rest of the population (particularly in rural backwaters) lives on a tiny fraction of that.