Apple's Cook 'incredibly optimistic' as China Mobile iPhone orders in multi-millions

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
According to China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua, demand for the carrier's iPhone looks to be strong as orders are already in the multi-millions, prompting Apple CEO Tim Cook to say he is "incredibly optimistic" about the new partnership.

China Mobile


Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Cook was expectedly upbeat about the deal with China Mobile, which will put Apple's latest iPhone on sale for the first time starting this Friday.

"We've gotten to know each other...today is a beginning, and I think there are lots more things our companies can do together in the future," Cook said.

The Apple chief alluded to future cooperation with the world's largest wireless carrier, but did not identify specific plans. It is likely that the company will introduce cellular-capable iPads as it has done on other partner carriers' networks.

In the near-term, Apple may look to make its iPhone more affordable, and therefore more attractive, for Chinese consumers. iPhone pricing has been a sticking point in emerging markets, though Apple has instituted measures like payment plans to help overcome up-front costs. It seems that a lower-end model is not in the cards, however, as Cook toed the company line of "quality over quantity."

"Apple has always been about making the best products, not the most products, so that's always our North Star and that's not going to change ever," Cook said.

Analysts view the China Mobile deal as a huge win for Apple as the iPhone could address hundreds of millions of customers on the carrier's newly deployed 4G TD-LTE network. The topic is thought to be a main focus for investors during Apple's next quarterly earnings call slated for Jan. 27.

It was reported on Monday that Foxconn had shipped an initial batch of 1.4 million iPhone 5s handsets to China Mobile to cover January sales. Demand is still largely unknown, though a more concrete outlook should solidify after the first few days of sales.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 65
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    You hear that [B]Odo[/B]? [SIZE=4][I]"Optimistic!"[/I][/SIZE]
  • Reply 2 of 65
    Sounds like big big news. Wish I bought Apple yesterday. It sounds like a first for Cook to say something like that publicly.WOW! WOW! WOW!
  • Reply 3 of 65

    I really think a more expensive premium model has to be added in China. An iPhone that costs $1500 minimum. Selling 10 million of them a year would be like selling 20 million of any other phone.

  • Reply 4 of 65
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    But China is full of poor people and there is no growth and no subsidies and wah wah!
  • Reply 5 of 65
    512ke512ke Posts: 782member

    INCREDIBLY.

     

    OPTIMISTIC.

     

    Buy APPL.

  • Reply 6 of 65
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    512ke wrote: »
    Buy APPL.
    Appel Petroleum? Why?

    I normally avoid investing in oil & gas companies
  • Reply 7 of 65
    Interesting optimistic statement~

    I am an Chinese and I read online Chinese news about reservation of iPhone 5s/c through China Mobile. It seems the story here is different from those reported by Chinese technology news agencies.

    Based on their reports, the sale or reservation is totally not as hot as it states in this post. The reservation number is well below that of China Telecom (270k vs 150k) at same time point. I don't know which source is more true than the other. But presumably as a Chinese and know a little bit of Chinese customer behavior, I don't think iPhone 5s/c will reach the sale peak as seen before. This is because those people who really love iPhones or Apple products have already got the gears through gray market. Those who are still waiting are kind of people that not super fan of Apple, and they can pick up a samsung handset without hesitate due to the slightly lower price. Thus, the key I think will be the price. If the price is not attractive low, It is possible that iPhone 5s/c just a good sale phone rather than a hot sale phone.

    Hopefully I am wrong. We will see.
  • Reply 8 of 65
    flabingo wrote: »
    Sounds like big big news. Wish I bought Apple yesterday. It sounds like a first for Cook to say something like that publicly.WOW! WOW! WOW!

    Doomed.
  • Reply 9 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aircm1982 View Post



     Thus, the key I think will be the price. If the price is not attractive low, It is possible that iPhone 5s/c just a good sale phone rather than a hot sale phone.



    Hopefully I am wrong. We will see.

     

    You're wrong as are all the white Wall Street analysts. Plain and simple, luxury goods in China are a status symbol. The point is to show everybody what you can afford. If you walk around with a 5c, you're telling everybody in bright plastic colors that you can't afford a 5s. People will buy a fake before they buy a cheap model.

  • Reply 10 of 65

    That's your bias~

     

    Admittedly, there are many Chinese people as you described, superficial and love showing off how cool they are, but not all of them are. Your opinion is coming from the reports from westerner angle without detailed examination of Chinese or living in China for long time. This is same as the biased impression of western countries. Just one- or two-time visits, you can summarize the western countries. It is absolutely a joke.

     

    Even if as you said everybody wants to show he/she can afford iPhone 5s, why not start with China Telecom or China Unicom. Their bundle prices are usually cheaper than that of China Mobile. This is definitely not showing off situation.

     

    So, please don't compare me with those so-called analyzers in Wall Street. They don't know Chinese at all. Only they know is plain data, which can be easily misinterpreted using inappropriate statistics (intentionally).

  • Reply 11 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aircm1982 View Post

     

    That's your bias~

     

    Admittedly, there are many Chinese people as you described, superficial and love showing off how cool they are, but not all of them are. Your opinion is coming from the reports from westerner angle without detailed examination of Chinese or living in China for long time.


     

    Wrong. I thought the 5c would be successful at first until I was told the exact same thing by several people from mainland China. As they put it, the bright plastic case, combined with the change of the black color was a major mistake by Apple. The previous practice of selling the old model gave people an out... not so with the 5c.

  • Reply 12 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by konqerror View Post

     

     

    Wrong. I thought the 5c would be successful at first until I was told the exact same thing by several people from mainland China.


    If you want to know how iPhone 5s/c sale in China, you should pay a little bit attention to a Chinese forum: bbs.weiphone.com.

     

    You can easily count how many threads in forum of each handsets. Usually it looks like (2000 vs 100) everyday. So at that earlier stage I've already believed the 5c wouldn't be successful as 5s in China. Indeed, the later report from worldwide suggests 5s has 3.4 times over 5c, which indirectly confirmed what I believe.

     

    If you really want to do the business in China, you definitely should know Chinese publics behavior, not just small portion of people like showing off, even selling their kidney for nonsense. Don't be stupid bestbuy. Be a Chinese first.

  • Reply 13 of 65
    I don't think tim would be making that kind of statement if he knew the werent selling a large volume of phones.
  • Reply 14 of 65
    Wonder what that dumb@ss Wedge Partners analyst Jun Zhang has to say about his estimate of 100 thousand pre-orders now? Oh well, maybe this crook is celebrating with his clients for getting them the opportunity to buy APPL at a lower price.
  • Reply 15 of 65

    Remember what he said about iPhone 5s/c, even 5s 3.4 times over 5c. He said nothing specifically about 5s or 5c.

     

    Also, remember those statements are vague without any hard data support. So, when the really data comes out later, he can interpret either way to keep optimistic. Kindly like politicians: if he/she indeed lies about something, he/she will explain he/she misunderstood the questions or states the answers are taken out of context.

     

    What smart people are, businessmen and politicians~

  • Reply 16 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jpmia View Post



    I don't think tim would be making that kind of statement if he knew the werent selling a large volume of phones.

    Remember what he said about iPhone 5s/c, even 5s 3.4 times over 5c. He said nothing specifically about 5s or 5c.

     

    Also, remember those statements are vague without any hard data support. So, when the really data comes out later, he can interpret either way to keep optimistic. Kindly like politicians: if he/she indeed lies about something, he/she will explain he/she misunderstood the questions or states the answers are taken out of context.

     

    What smart people are, businessmen and politicians~

  • Reply 17 of 65
    Oh, no the analyst are wrong again....Apple stock will get punished cuz of that
  • Reply 18 of 65
    I think Apple will do whatever they need to do to be successful with sales through China Mobile. Keeping in mind that iPhone "market share" has never been a goal with Apple.
  • Reply 19 of 65

    The Wall Street analysts have already said the Chinese can't afford iPhones so why is Tim Cook lying to everyone about multi-millions of iPhones.  The Chinese only buy Android smartphones.  Google to $1200 a share and Apple to $500 a share seems just about right..  It's time for Apple to just give up and admit defeat to Android.  Apple is doomed.

     

    /s

  • Reply 20 of 65

    Ever wondered if Tim "the only thing I like better than suing my competitors is sucking cock" Cook is a top or bottom?

     

    I think he is a bottom... and probably faps to images of John Ivy.

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