China Unicom gains 5,000 iPhone subscribers from launch

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by solipsism

No one here as ever said that. We’ve said that marketshare is not more important that profits to a company. Marketshare increases are great if you are maintaining your net profits, if not, selling double the units with less than half the profits is not a net win for any company.

No- you and other stockholders have said that. You need to clarify your use of the word "we". Many of us on here would prefer to live in a Mac world than a Windows world- market share does indeed matter to us. We prefer OSX everywhere - either on other machines besides Apple's and/or less expensive Apple machines such as netbooks, etc. You speak for yourself- PLEASE!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by teckstud

No- you and other stockholders have said that. You need to clarify your use of the word "we". Many of us on here would prefer to live in a Mac world than a Windows world- market share does indeed matter to us. We prefer OSX everywhere - either on other machines besides Apple's and/or less expensive Apple machines such as netbooks, etc. You speak for yourself- PLEASE!

When I say ‘we’ I am referring to the intelligent, rational people on this forum. I assure you that anytime I use the word ‘we’ I am never referring to you for the reason stated above.

You can live in a “Mac world”, what the hell means, but Windows has its place and it’s position is solid for the foreseeable future. Apple makes an OS to sell HW, not the other way around so they can’t possibly get Windows marketshare with their business model. They can’t even get HP’s marketshare with their business model. Windows is the OS for businesses since they license to multiple vendors and are willing to support legacy HW and code. It’s a a different business model than what Apple has. They each have their place in the market and serve different needs. I hope one day you actually understand that concept.

[TBell]

Not only are published taxes high, but you have to pay off the right party members to be able to do business. Further, currency valuations come into play.

Originally Posted by Anawrahta

I have no idea why Apple totally screws over Chinese consumers. It isn't just the iPhone either, all Apple products in China are 50-100% more expensive than in the USA even though they're all MADE in China. I know the sales taxes are high and that plays some role, but after you subtract that, there's still a big gap that doesn't make sense.

The Apple authorized dealer network there is a complete joke. Most of the retailers are con artists who pass off refurbished stuff as new. Don't bother going to them for warranty or repair work, very few outside of Beijing or Shanghai will have technicians or people who even use/own the computers they sell.

The big question is....how many of these nerfed iPhones did Apple already manufacture before of the government gave it's seal of approval on regular WiFi?

[TBell]

Yes, but since the sole purpose of OSX is to sell Apple's hardware, you will never get your dream. Further, this is America where a company should be able to choose it's destiny. If Apple doesn't want to be a software company, it shouldn't be required to be one.

For me, being a Mac user is the tight integration between Apple hardware and software. Using OSX on a non made Apple PC cheapens the experience because Apple hardware is simply made better. If Apple were to make the OS available to all, it would have to compete with the likes of companies like Dell who don't care about margins, but market share. Apple'd lose money and would likely have to stop selling hardware. Apple tried that experiment. It failed.

Originally Posted by teckstud

No- you and other stockholders have said that. You need to clarify your use of the word "we". Many of us on here would prefer to live in a Mac world than a Windows world- market share does indeed matter to us. We prefer OSX everywhere - either on other machines besides Apple's and/or less expensive Apple machines such as netbooks, etc. You speak for yourself- PLEASE!

[nikon133]

Originally Posted by drdb

I probably mixed 2 points up a bit there. A Ford worker could afford a car, but would have to work 4 months to buy one, making many more cars in this time. The number of iPhones a factory worker would have to make to afford one is a lot more (an impossibly big number probably) than 4 months worth.

Mate, you are comparing a phone - very common gadget nowadays - with a car, bloody exclusive and exotic item when Ford T hit the market.

Silly comparison, if you ask me.

[macologist]

Originally Posted by reinharden

The number of people willing to pay $1000+ for a more limited version of the iPhone is probably pretty limited. Especially when China Unicom is publicly saying that they hope to offer a version *with* WiFi in a few months.

If you have to have an iPhone today, you get it via Hong Kong. If you're willing to wait another few months, you can get it direct from China Unicom fully featured.


If Apple and China Unicom had said that a software update would enable WiFi in a few months, that might have helped a little. But I'm not sure whether Apple removed the hardware or simply disabled it...

reinharden

If it's a Software Fix, then why would Apple be waiting till later to Turn On the WiFi with some kind of Software Fix. They should be able to do that now!

If it's a Hardware Fix, what happens to those who already bought it now, or are about to buy it? Will the be able to swap their present iPhones without WiFie for the Fully Featured iPhones with WiFi? Will that swap be Free, or how much? If not Free, then most people will wait. But then, will Apple have to take back the Unsold iPhones and "eat" the loss? I would expect not, since it wasn't Apple's decision to take out WiFi. They were forced to do it!

Today, on 11/3/09 Episode of http://www.macosken.com Podcast, I heard that 5,000 Activated iPhones number was based only on 2 Locations out of 1,000 Locations where iPhone is being Sold! So, vote is not fully in, particularly until the WiFi - Fully Featurued iPhones start rolling in, right?!

In a way, if this is to be called a Soft Launch, that give everyone to easy into it, and work out whatever glitches, unlike the All At Once MobileMe Launch that we don't want to remember...

My Suspicion is that most of the Chinese are waiting till WiFi is included! Then, the Legal iPhones can Support and Warranties that Grey Market iPhones don't! Also, if the Jailbroken iPhone is not working, where will those consumers go for Support?

I agree with those who say that Apple wins either way, with or without Grey Market! Once the dust settles, it'll be a clearer picture, and, the prices will come down anyway! They always do!

I wonder if WiFi was removed so that the Politicians can control the Information better, unlike Twitter and recent events in Iran? Or was WiFi removed for other reasons, like forcing people into higher Minutes Plans, and thus Greed?

What about VoIP - GoogleVoice, Skype, Vonage! Will there be anything like that in China on iPhones and other Smart Phones?

How well do the Smarthones by Motorolla and Blackberry, etc sell in China? No Pre there yet, right?

I don't remember, does India have iPhone, or is it mostly Grey Market there too?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You can live in a “Mac world”, what the hell means, but Windows has its place and it’s position is solid for the foreseeable future. Apple makes an OS to sell HW, not the other way around so they can’t possibly get Windows marketshare with their business model. They can’t even get HP’s marketshare with their business model. Windows is the OS for businesses since they license to multiple vendors and are willing to support legacy HW and code. It’s a a different business model than what Apple has. They each have their place in the market and serve different needs. I hope one day you actually understand that concept.

Well you can't even understand the basic concept that maybe some of us would prefer OSX on some hardware other than what Apple offers. OH THE HORROR!!!!!!!

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Old people don’t even use computers.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by MacTripper

In a country of 1.3 billion people, shouldn't there be a "only" in this topic heading?

Lets face it, the iPhone was killed by the Chinese government by their delaying tactics and wifi hobbling.

Of course they benefited by having nearly all of Apple's manufacturing in their country so they can learn how to do things for themselves and once they learn, they are done with Apple.

There isn't enough resources in the world for the 1.3 billion Chinese to have the same standard of living as we enjoyed in the US.

It's not too late to bring Apple's manufacturing back to the US, if they wait too long the skills will be lost due to unemployment and aging.

Quit chasing the Chinese dragon there Apple.

I would love nothing more than for this country to give all businesses and citizens a 10 year tax holiday. We'd see manufacturing and productivity return in a big way. Businesses would be fighting to locate here (for once).