Reservations for Apple's iPhone 6, 6 Plus in China reportedly hit 2 million in first 6 hours
News outlets in mainland China are reporting that initial reservations for Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models across retailers and the nation's three mobile carriers have reached the two million mark.
ITHome and Sina have both reported "incomplete statistics" stating that retailers and carriers have booked more than 2 million reservations just six hours after opening their queues.
The report also noted that the majority of initial bookings have been 64GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models (both priced at nearly $1,000), rather than the cheapest tier Apple offers.
Previous reports on black market smuggling have similarly indicated that buyers were paying extreme premiums for the larger model and for gold finish, two options Apple appears to have made available with the Chinese market expressly in mind.
Apple itself issued a press release yesterday stating that preorders from its own online store wouldn't begin until Friday October 10, and that buyers could reserve the new iPhones beginning Tuesday October 14 for in-store pick-up starting Friday October 17.
The company's press release also said that actual sales by carriers China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom and from Apple Authorized Resellers wouldn't begin until October 17, but that does not appear to have stopped all three carriers and several major retailers from booking preorders early.
Apple's suggested retail price of for the new iPhone 6 is 5,288 RMB ($861 US) for the 16GB model, 6,088 RMB ($991) for the 64GB model and 6,888 RMB ($1122) for the 128GB model, while iPhone 6 Plus is priced at 6,088/6,888/7,788 RMB ($991/1122/1269) at the same three capacities.
US pricing for unlocked iPhone 6 is $649/749/849 and iPhone 6 Plus is $749/849/949 for the same three storage options, making the Chinese prices between $212 to $173 higher than U.S. prices (which do not include sales tax, which varies by state).
Apple's initial iPhone 6 sales exceeded ten million over the new models' first weekend, a figure that unlike last year did not include sales from mainland China due to a delay in approvals from the state government.
In March, Chinese market research group Umeng detailed that while "the market for budget Android phones is strong in China" and that 57 percent of phones sold cost less than $330, Apple has sold 80 percent of all phones priced above $500, a segment that made up 27 percent of smartphones sales.
At the time, the cheapest phone Apple was selling was iPhone 4S at $535. Apple now sells iPhone 5c for that price, while two models of iPhone 5s (16/32GB) are now priced at $731 and $796.
Umeng also noted that the market for Chinese users entirely new to smartphones is shrinking, and that a much larger percentage of smartphones are now upgrades for existing users, a trend that would appear to benefit higher end devices rather than cheap, entry level offerings.
ITHome and Sina have both reported "incomplete statistics" stating that retailers and carriers have booked more than 2 million reservations just six hours after opening their queues.
The report also noted that the majority of initial bookings have been 64GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models (both priced at nearly $1,000), rather than the cheapest tier Apple offers.
Previous reports on black market smuggling have similarly indicated that buyers were paying extreme premiums for the larger model and for gold finish, two options Apple appears to have made available with the Chinese market expressly in mind.
Apple itself issued a press release yesterday stating that preorders from its own online store wouldn't begin until Friday October 10, and that buyers could reserve the new iPhones beginning Tuesday October 14 for in-store pick-up starting Friday October 17.
The company's press release also said that actual sales by carriers China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom and from Apple Authorized Resellers wouldn't begin until October 17, but that does not appear to have stopped all three carriers and several major retailers from booking preorders early.
Apple's suggested retail price of for the new iPhone 6 is 5,288 RMB ($861 US) for the 16GB model, 6,088 RMB ($991) for the 64GB model and 6,888 RMB ($1122) for the 128GB model, while iPhone 6 Plus is priced at 6,088/6,888/7,788 RMB ($991/1122/1269) at the same three capacities.
US pricing for unlocked iPhone 6 is $649/749/849 and iPhone 6 Plus is $749/849/949 for the same three storage options, making the Chinese prices between $212 to $173 higher than U.S. prices (which do not include sales tax, which varies by state).
Apple's initial iPhone 6 sales exceeded ten million over the new models' first weekend, a figure that unlike last year did not include sales from mainland China due to a delay in approvals from the state government.
In March, Chinese market research group Umeng detailed that while "the market for budget Android phones is strong in China" and that 57 percent of phones sold cost less than $330, Apple has sold 80 percent of all phones priced above $500, a segment that made up 27 percent of smartphones sales.
At the time, the cheapest phone Apple was selling was iPhone 4S at $535. Apple now sells iPhone 5c for that price, while two models of iPhone 5s (16/32GB) are now priced at $731 and $796.
Umeng also noted that the market for Chinese users entirely new to smartphones is shrinking, and that a much larger percentage of smartphones are now upgrades for existing users, a trend that would appear to benefit higher end devices rather than cheap, entry level offerings.
Comments
Two million preorders from one country. A great start.
22 Sep 2014
AppleInsider Headline - Apple announces record sales of 10 million iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus units in first 3 days
GTR: And without China. What would that number have been with that tiny little country included…
Maestro64 - China is include, it is call black market…
Herbapou - It would had been the same... They soldout...
http://mywatchchoice.com/product-category/miscellaneous/
The question is, of course, why it should be $100 more? It's made in China. There are virtually no transportation costs. I have often wondered why this should be (especially since it's a global phenomenon: the prices of iPhones are about $100 more expensive over the US price in virtually every country on the planet).
Who here still thinks that Apple needs to build a super-cheap-ass phone for China?
Yeah. Didn't think so.
... The question is, of course, why it should be $100 more? It's made in China. There are virtually no transportation costs. ...
Because Apple can. That's why.
Why would Chinese citizens pay $2500 or more for black market iPhone 6 Plus (in gold) before they officially go on sale?
Because they can. That's why.
Your price comparisons are disingenuous. China has a 17% VAT. You have to remove that tax if you are going to compare the Chinese price to the US price since the US price also does not include tax. Taking out the 17% VAT, the price of the iPhone 6 with 16 GB is $750. So it's only a $100 premium.
The question is, of course, why it should be $100 more? It's made in China. There are virtually no transportation costs. I have often wondered why this should be (especially since it's a global phenomenon: the prices of iPhones are about $100 more expensive over the US price in virtually every country on the planet).
Apple being a foreign company, there is likely an import duty in addition of the VAT.
Factories producing iDevices are in so called free trade zones and any products or even parts are subject to the same import tax and duties....that's why?
The additional cost of Apple goods made in China that are sold in China don't end up in Apple's wallet. They end up in local taxes, local transportation costs (which are ridiculously high by the way and not free by any stretch of the imagination), graft, corruption, and state run market siphoning. This applies to most if not all goods and is in no way unique to Apple products. If anything, Apple's good name and market presence allows those who tap into the lucrative money stream for trendy and high profile products to suck out even more cash, making Apple look bad even though they have nothing at all to do with the gouging.
I have many colleagues in Asian countries and when they visit the US the first item on their personal travel agenda is visiting as many discount malls and shopping centers as possible to load up on luxury and high profile products, most of which are produced in Asia, for their return trip home. They are basically repatriating Asian produced products back to their country of origin at substantial discounts over what they would pay locally in their home country. They arrive with shopping lists from all their friends and relatives and an empty suitcase or two. Of course there is always the risk of getting tapped for duties on their return trip so they have to keep the quantities within reasonable levels as not to attract undue attention.
iPhone 5c Topped UK Smartphone Sales Charts Ahead of iPhone 6 Launch
Wednesday October 1, 2014 6:44 am PDT by Kelly Hodgkins
The iPhone 5c was the best selling phone in Britain in August with 8.9% share, outselling the flagship iPhone 5s with 7.6% and the Samsung Galaxy S5 with 6.0%.
You have defended the 5c against its naysayers here in the past, and these sales figures vindicate you. Someone on Seeking Alpha said that it was the iPhone Apple could sell all year.
only two million? Apple is doomed.????????
That is easy. Higher local taxes. In China, Apple probably had to pay a little extra to overcome the regulatory hurdle to bring the phone to market.
Your price comparisons are disingenuous. China has a 17% VAT. You have to remove that tax if you are going to compare the Chinese price to the US price since the US price also does not include tax. Taking out the 17% VAT, the price of the iPhone 6 with 16 GB is $750. So it's only a $100 premium.
The question is, of course, why it should be $100 more? It's made in China. There are virtually no transportation costs. I have often wondered why this should be (especially since it's a global phenomenon: the prices of iPhones are about $100 more expensive over the US price in virtually every country on the planet).
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
You are aware, aren't you, that the US prices also gets taxed? We have taxes here. Some areas approach 10% taxes. They aren't called a VAT, but it gets added on top of the prices that Apple lists the phone for. In these areas, the difference with china is more like 7% instead of 17%, using your example.
If I were in China paying $1000 for a phone, I probably wouldn't be thinking, "Oh, it really costs just $100 more than the US phone because our beloved leaders use some of that for VAT." I'd be thinking, "That #$@#$ phone cost me $1000!"
I think you missed my point which was it is not fair to compare a price which includes a 17% tax with a price that is before sales tax. As it happens, VAT is NOT sales tax and is handled quite differently. VAT Is "pass through" for companies. This means that if a company buys an iPhone in China, it is actually 17% cheaper than when an individual buys an iPhone in China because the company will get the VAT back.
All I was saying was that it's a bit fairer to compare the pre-tax prices, rather than one price which does not yet have its tax (because the tax is dependent on which State it's bought in, so the tax is not known) to a price which already includes a tax (whether it's VAT or sales tax),
"A little extra" regulatory fees would not raise the price of each phone by $100. What's strange to me is that Apple charges more in exactly the places that can least afford it. It really should charge the same (base) price everywhere. I think they'd sell even more... Oh well...
22 Sep 2014
AppleInsider Headline - Apple announces record sales of 10 million iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus units in first 3 days
GTR: And without China. What would that number have been with that tiny little country included…
Maestro64 - China is include, it is call black market…
Herbapou - It would had been the same... They soldout...
Did you ask yourself why it's going to take 3 weeks after approval for the phones to go on sale in China?
I think Herbapou had it right.
There are always "protectionist" tariffs/fees when foreign companies sell goods in a country.
That may be true. But it is particularly strange as the iPhone is made in China! I can understand that that this happens in other countries (with middlemen and the like), but why is China being "protectionist" against itself? Do you know how many Chinese are employed by Apple? This is hardly a "foreign" product (yes, it's designed in California- but it is, for the most part, manufactured and assembled in China- it's more Chinese than anything else). If I were Apple, I would do my best to make it the same (pre-tax) price all over the world. That may not be possible because of distribution costs (middlemen, cost of translating documentation, cost of meeting each country's regulations, etc.). But I would try...