Most of estimated 21M iOS devices in China concentrated in urban areas
A new analysis estimates that there were 21 million iPhones and iPads in China by the end of 2011 and notes that Apple appears to have reached an approximately 10 percent penetration rate with iOS in the country's biggest urban centers.
Stenvall Skoeld, a "strategic advisory firm" focusing on China, released a report (via The Next Web) late last week estimating Apple's penetration levels across geographic regions in the country. The analysis combined the firm's own intel with data from a variety of sources, including Morgan Stanley, Flurry Analytics and Umeng, a Chinese mobile research company.
According to the report, more than half of all iOS devices in China are located in a handful of provinces and cities. Guangdong province was listed as having the most iOS devices at 13.42 percent, followed by Beijing with 10.38 percent. Shanhai, Zhejian and Jiangsu rounded out the top five. The western province of Tibet was estimated to have the lowest share of iOS devices at .10 percent.
Apple is believed to have reached a penetration rate of 11 percent in Beijing and 9.4 percent in Shanghai. Tianjin was the third-most penetrated city with a rate of 4.4 percent, according to the report.
Flurry recently declared China as the global leader in iOS and Android device activations. A separate analysis late last year named China as having passed the U.S. to become the world's largest smartphone market.
The number of iOS devices in China may actually be much higher than Stenvall Skoeld reports, as China Mobile claims to have 15 million iPhone users on its network in spite of the fact that the carrier does not officially sell the device.
Apple has indicated in the past that the Chinese market is a key focus area for the company. Apple CEO Tim Cook said last year that the iPhone maker is "just scratching the surface" in the region.
As further evidence of the strategic role that China plays for Apple, Cook just returned from a visit o the country. During his trip, he met with high-level governmental officials and visited an iPhone production line at a Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Most of estimated 21M iOS devices in China concentrated in urban areas
Yes. That is where the people are. Or do the herds of iPhones roam freely across the vast emptiness of the plains on your planet?
I think that Apple will do quite well, since Apple is going to focus on their market.
This is a bit of a shock. I thought it would be the poverty stricken farmers that rushed out to buy an iPhone and iPad.
Don't be silly.
It's obviously all the chinese kids selling their organs that are buying Apple's products.
It wouldn't surprise me if the two big cell carriers started carrying Apple products when the iPhone 5 gets released later this year. That will make a HUGE increase in Apple in China.
I think that Apple will do quite well, since Apple is going to focus on their market.
How long Apple China can wait to get out of the coast and into the mainland? Coastal province markets are now as red ocean as they come.
The quicker Apple can get inland before homegrown handsets or even Samsung snatch all early adopters and well-off customers, the better. Fake Apple stores and hawkers cannot keep inland buyers happy for long.
Serious note, anyone has at least a ballpark estimate when they can start selling at least iPhone4 there?
You will notice that the population density directly corrosponds to concentrations of iOS purchase rates. That's kind of a DUH report if you ask my opinion.
Really the population in the mainland is about as dense as say...Nebraska or Nevada. This link will show you a comparison with the USA:
Also not the topography of China is such that most of mainland China is very rocky.
this link kind of shows topography, which is why people live in the coast:
Not to mention the fact that since the economic boom over the last 25 or so years, we've seen large numbers of population flock to the urban cores.
I think what this really shows is the fact that the Chinese like the idea of a single source for technology...or, the Apple ecosystem. IMO, it seems to relate to the type of governmental structure they have there. We tell you what you can and can't do (absolute), but you can be as creative as you want within those limits...Sound familiar???
This is a bit of a shock. I thought it would be the poverty stricken farmers that rushed out to buy an iPhone and iPad.
Exactly... I bet about the same proportion of iOS devices in the US are concentrated in San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Chicago and the east coast cities (NYC, Philly, DC, Boston) - simply because that's where the highest concentration of people live.
Admittedly I live in a large city but I think the appeal of smartphones is partly to do with the lifestyle. So many people seem to have jobs that involve long periods of inactivity/waiting around it makes a lot of sense to have a multi-purpose device for keeping them amused.
Something to bear in mind for Apple is that there is less money to be made from content. Most Chinese users are not used to paying for content. There are plenty of legitimate and illegal ways to get free music on their phone.
If you buy a phone from the grey market they will offer to load up your phone with apps unpaid for at no extra cost.People here think I am mad buying films and tv shows on my UK iTunes account paying what they see as an uncompetitive cost.
That is where Apples model pays dividends though in that they have a healthy profit margin on the device itself.
I think the estimation is probably low I am astounded by how many people have smart phones in general and iPhones in particular. Since the launch of the 4s and the reduction in price for the 4 every other person has an iPhone.
Admittedly I live in a large city but I think the appeal of smartphones is partly to do with the lifestyle. So many people seem to have jobs that involve long periods of inactivity/waiting around it makes a lot of sense to have a multi-purpose device for keeping them amused.
Something to bear in mind for Apple is that there is less money to be made from content. Most Chinese users are not used to paying for content. There are plenty of legitimate and illegal ways to get free music on their phone.
If you buy a phone from the grey market they will offer to load up your phone with apps unpaid for at no extra cost.People here think I am mad buying films and tv shows on my UK iTunes account paying what they see as an uncompetitive cost.
That is where Apples model pays dividends though in that they have a healthy profit margin on the device itself.
I can concur with this assessment.
I live about 50% of my time in Beijing, work with locals in the office and they all tell me that they have downloaded apps and music for free with the help of friends or by the service providers. I'd say just by observation on the subways, I see much more than 10% of the people have iPhones. Granted that 10% might be figures from legitimate iPhone sales and some might be grey-market as this post states. Not to mention 2nd hand transfers and what-nots.
I can concur with this assessment.
I live about 50% of my time in Beijing, work with locals in the office and they all tell me that they have downloaded apps and music for free with the help of friends or by the service providers. I'd say just by observation on the subways, I see much more than 10% of the people have iPhones. Granted that 10% might be figures from legitimate iPhone sales and some might be grey-market as this post states. Not to mention 2nd hand transfers and what-nots.
The figures are too high for official purchases but too low to match up with users claimed on China Mobile, Telecom and Unicom. But we all know so many iPhones in use in china were grey imports from US, Korea, Hong Kong and Australia plus those sent by friends and relatives from around the rest of the world as well.
The other thing that puzzles me is how many iPads there must be in China, I think the figure doesn't feel like it is taking these into account or is a gross underestimate.
Something Apple may also want to take into account is that no-one seems to be concerned about a screen being too big. There are a lot of diminutive folk using big screen Galaxys and others so a larger sized 'iPhone 6' would probably be well received in this market.