Photos: Customers line up for long-awaited China Mobile launch of Apple's iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Thousands of Chinese consumers descended on China Mobile stores across the Middle Kingdom Friday as the iPhone made its official debut on the world's largest wireless carrier.

iPhone launches on China Mobile


Friday's launch marked the culmination of years of stop-and-start negotiations between Apple and China Mobile, the last of China's three state-owned wireless telecommunications companies to gain access to Cupertino's handset. Joining the crowds to celebrate the occasion in Beijing were Apple CEO Tim Cook and China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua --?the duo autographed ten handsets given to contest winners from across the nation.

Neither company has commented thus far on first-day sales, though they are expected to be brisk. China Mobile is said to have received "millions" of iPhone pre-orders following the partnership's announcement.

The photos below were collated by Singapore-based Flickr user jnaina and first spotted by Fortune's Philip Elmer-Dewitt.

iPhone launches on China Mobile


iPhone launches on China Mobile


iPhone launches on China Mobile


iPhone launches on China Mobile


iPhone launches on China Mobile



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    But The New York Times said only a dozen showed up. What a terribly negative and biased article.
  • Reply 2 of 35
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,106member
    The New York Times is reporting that only 12 people showed up to buy iPhones at the Beijing store where Tim Cook was present. This can't be right, can it?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/technology/apples-latest-foray-into-china-gets-a-weak-response.html?hp&_r=0
  • Reply 3 of 35
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    NYT probably went to a counterfeit Apple store. Frak the grey lady!

    So much for "fairly crowded" to be a negative.
  • Reply 4 of 35
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Meanwhile on MacRumors front page is a click bait article from Digitimes claiming Apple is rushing a larger sized iPad to market because of what Samsung announced at CES. Thank you AI. :)
  • Reply 5 of 35
    rogifan wrote: »
    Meanwhile on MacRumors front page is a click bait article from Digitimes claiming Apple is rushing a larger sized iPad to market because of what Samsung announced at CES. Thank you AI. :)

    Ha! "Click bait" reminds me of a middle manager at Apple (who will remain unnamed) giving a presentation on the Mac's "click and point" UI :D
  • Reply 6 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Retrogusto View Post



    The New York Times is reporting that only 12 people showed up to buy iPhones at the Beijing store where Tim Cook was present. This can't be right, can it?



    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/technology/apples-latest-foray-into-china-gets-a-weak-response.html?hp&_r=0

     

    It looks like 2 dozen customers and 3 dozen people from the media.

     

    Maybe it was controlled knowing that Cook and Guohua would be there.

     

    Photos that I've seen in other parts show lines of people... but nothing like you see in the US... but the phones have been reserved, so you would expect the crowds to be less.

  • Reply 7 of 35
    It's called warped reality. NYT states, and I quote, "at the opening of A store in Beijing", they don't specifically say the store Tim Cook was at had a poor showing. Just one of the stores did.

    Very slippery, twisted, ham-handed journalism..

    Makes sense that other stores in the area would have a lower turnout, everyone headed to the store with Tim Cook in it. Duh.
  • Reply 8 of 35
    It looks like 2 dozen customers and 3 dozen people from the media.

    Maybe it was controlled knowing that Cook and Guohua would be there.

    Photos that I've seen in other parts show lines and people... but nothing like you see in the US... but the phones have been reserved, so you would expect the crowds to be less.
    Of course it was controlled. You can't have two high-powered executives in the middle of a madhouse - it's just not safe.
  • Reply 9 of 35
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    It looks like 2 dozen customers and 3 dozen people from the media.

    Maybe it was controlled knowing that Cook and Guohua would be there.

    Photos that I've seen in other parts show lines and people... but nothing like you see in the US... but the phones have been reserved, so you would expect the crowds to be less.
    Why should there be lines when the phones were available for pre-order? Why are so many trying to to be negative about Apple in China?
  • Reply 10 of 35
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member

    Jiangsu TV reports iPhone 5S/5C sales are hot.  One local CM store in Shanghai sold 70 in the morning.  Another sold 120. Video shows line lines before a store opens.

  • Reply 11 of 35
    dimmokdimmok Posts: 359member

    F the media, F Wall Street, DOES NOT ANYONE UNDERSTAND APPLE KICKS MAJOR ASS in all aspects from Software to Hardware.

    NO ONE IS BETTER THAN APPLE.....NO ONE.

  • Reply 12 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Why should there be lines when the phones were available for pre-order? Why are so many trying to to be negative about Apple in China?

     

    Why are you asking me these questions?

  • Reply 13 of 35
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member

    First Question, when have we seen long lines at any service provider store in the US after a launch, all the crowds were usually at an apple store not the cell phone store. Why is this the case, Apple has fraction of stores than the service providers have. In NYC there is 3 Apple stores, how many stores does AT&T and VZ have in NYC, a couple of dozen each.

     

    I suspect the same is true in China, the service provides have way more stores than Apple. The crowd at any one store are not going to be that great.

     

    Typical media making news into what they want to say not what really is happening.

  • Reply 14 of 35
    There are iPhones via other carriers, not exclusive deal. why excitement? I read somewhere Asian and the rest of world prefer bigger screen, that is why Samsung and others are gaining ground so fast. Of course price is an issue too.
  • Reply 15 of 35
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee View Post





    Of course it was controlled. You can't have two high-powered executives in the middle of a madhouse - it's just not safe.

    it is china, it is not dangerous no one is allow to step out of line in public. Plus what could anyone do there, they are not allow to own dangerous weapons like here in the states. Yeah I know once in a while they have a crazy person trying to stab people with a rice cutter.

  • Reply 16 of 35

    I understand Apple had to order another "Apple is Doomed" coffin because the previous one had so many nails in it they couldn't fit in the latest New York Times nail.

  • Reply 17 of 35
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mervynyan View Post



    There are iPhones via other carriers, not exclusive deal. why excitement? I read somewhere Asian and the rest of world prefer bigger screen, that is why Samsung and others are gaining ground so fast. Of course price is an issue too.

    Bigger? Yet the S4 sales decline... China Mobile has 732 MILLION subscribers: a huge market so offering iPhones that are compatible with their fasted network is a relatively big deal. Price isn't an issue to the successful of China, of which there are many, the service cost is always the larger issue as well.

  • Reply 18 of 35
    Way to GO Apple !!!
  • Reply 19 of 35
    cintoscintos Posts: 113member

    One metric which is jumping out at me today is the iPhone 5s usage data as reported by Fiksu, which leverages its sdk-imbedded tracking data of app use, filtered to count unique devices.  http://www.fiksu.com/iOS-7-iPhone-5s-5c-Usage-Tracker 

     

    Today (1/17, 12:30pm est) is day 119 of iPhone 5s availability, and Fiksu reports that 13.43% of all iPhones in use are the 5s. That metric represents a 0.7% gap up from a 12.7% reading at the end of yesterday's (day 118) collection. This is notable in that the only other upward gap in the graph over the 119 days was the one seen on 12/25, Christmas day, and it was only a 0.6% jump. From this metric, the impact of China Mobile's launch was better than that of Christmas Day.....

  • Reply 20 of 35
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

    They are negative because this is Annual Options Expiration today.  They want the price down to 540-550 area. PERIOD.

     

    The Wall ST Journal/NY Times hacks are getting paid by Call option sellers to write BS.  PERIOD.

     

    Apple should really stand up to this BS and buy 1,000,000 shares during the last 5 minutes of trading to jack up the price over $560 and screw these Wall Street crooks.  That would only take about $560,000,000 which is small changed compared to the $60B buyback.


    Do you seriously think anyone who trades large blocks of Apple shares gets their investment advice from the NYT? Why would Apple want to get involved with trying to manipulate their own stock. That would just be PR suicide.

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