Tim Cook says Apple now factors Chinese tastes when designing products

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  • Reply 41 of 62
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    konqerror wrote: »

    Kids want a phone. The Chinese who can afford iPhones wouldn't be caught dead with a brightly colored model that screams "I can't afford the regular version". The practice of selling last year's model which, unless you're looking carefully, looks like this year's model is what the image-conscious market wants.

    This is what the white New York City analysts, and all the marketing types in California all missed. If they're listening to the Chinese market, then the special economy models are dead.

    what on earth are you talking about? the 5C was the second-best selling handset in US carrier stores, beating every other android clone including the flagships. and you can guess what the only phone to top the 5C was...
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  • Reply 42 of 62
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    rogifan wrote: »
    While this might be true did Tim Cook really need to publicly admit that Apple panders to China in some of its product design decisions? Also I followed Twitter and Instagram after the March keynote and there were a lot of people drooling over the gold MacBook and none of them were Chinese. So I think it's a misnomer to suggest these gold products only appeal to Asians. It's simply not true. Personally I think the champagne gold MacBook is one of the most stunning products Apple has ever designed.

    why wouldnt you want to let one of your best marketplace customers know youve got them in mind? only a xenophobic fool wouldnt see the good business sense in that.

    and please quote us where Cook or otherwise states these traits only appeal to Asians. cant recall that ever being stated...
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  • Reply 43 of 62
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    9secondko wrote: »
    And please.... Don't ever put chrome on my phone tablet or phone.

    It's ok on the watch. But that's it.

    there is no chrome option on the watch.
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  • Reply 44 of 62
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NolaMacGuy View Post





    what on earth are you talking about? the 5C was the second-best selling handset in US carrier stores, beating every other android clone including the flagships. and you can guess what the only phone to top the 5C was...

     

    Article: China is a very important market for Apple and they're taking into account Chinese tastes in product design

    Me: Apple failed to understand the concept of image and outward appearances in the Chinese market, which made the plastic 5C a flop.

    You: You're wrong! It sold well in the US! Take this anecdotal evidence!

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  • Reply 45 of 62

    It's all about the $$$ (don't have a yuan symbol).

    It's all about the renminbi.

    It's all about the Bass... and making the customer so goofy happy they'll sell a kidney to buy your products.
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  • Reply 46 of 62
    nolamacguy wrote: »
    9secondko wrote: »
    And please.... Don't ever put chrome on my phone tablet or phone.

    It's ok on the watch. But that's it.

    there is no chrome option on the watch.

    The only iPhone with chrome was the 2007 model ... people complained when the chrome back disappeared. What you will never see on an iPhone is Zune Brown...
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  • Reply 47 of 62
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Throwthatham View Post



    I knew that when the Chinese scalper mafia showed up at the stores. I do have to say that it's disappointing to see Tim Cook put it in writing though. I had hoped that all customer populations were important to Apple; guess not.

    It's not like everyone else must be ignored if any given group, even one as large as China, is considered in product design.

     

    Apple's trying to appeal to a broader world audience, not throwing you off the back of the troika.

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  • Reply 48 of 62
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post





    To be fair, we have to allow for the quarter-century lag in perception that afflicts conservative viewpoints. For example, it was around 1990 that Deng Xiaoping was ditching the old Red Star regalia ("ChiCom Red") in favor of "modernization" of China. But history is like science: annoying detail in the way of ideology.



    "Only Nixon could have gone to China".

     

    Even modernized, China is still Communist, unless you don't want to believe the PRC's public position. They just take advantage of economics that the USSR never managed to understand.

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  • Reply 49 of 62
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    konqerror wrote: »
    Article: China is a very important market for Apple and they're taking into account Chinese tastes in product design
    Me: Apple failed to understand the concept of image and outward appearances in the Chinese market, which made the plastic 5C a flop.
    You: You're wrong! It sold well in the US! Take this anecdotal evidence!

    it's not anecdotal evidence. trolls like you wanted to sell the narrative of the 5C as a "flop" (trolls love that word -- which is why we see it again on the Watch), but the available data proved otherwise. that data was not anecdotal, but true was in the US. but id wager if it was the second-best seller in the US, then it almost certainly was not a "flop" in China.

    so, if you have data to show that it was indeed a flop in China -- by all means, do share it. otherwise, youre just the usual hot air.

    im betting hot air tho. people like you love to exclaim how much smarter you are than apple, that they got this wrong, or that wrong...meanwhile, theyre the most successful publicly traded firm in the history of the human race and youre just some dude on a rumors site. oops!
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  • Reply 50 of 62
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    ascii wrote: »
    Look at the difference between Hello Kitty and Lucky Cat above. It seems almost impossible to design a product that both the Chinese and Japanese would like.

    I guess the solution is to make something that's physically just a blank slate and then change the software.

    What? Hello Kitty and maneki neko (Lucky Cat) are both Japanese.
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  • Reply 51 of 62
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NolaMacGuy View Post



    so, if you have data to show that it was indeed a flop in China -- by all means, do share it. otherwise, youre just the usual hot air.



    im betting hot air tho. people like you love to exclaim how much smarter you are than apple, that they got this wrong, or that wrong...meanwhile, theyre the most successful publicly traded firm in the history of the human race and youre just some dude on a rumors site. oops!

     

    You're full of hot air because Apple doesn't break down phone sales.

     

    While I bet you've never been to Asia, I work with Chinese who do the bring phones back for relatives thing, who explained the the 5s situation to me. According to them, the moment it was announced, it was declared a flop on Chinese social media, which was how it played out.

     

    Having visited a few years back, I'll tell you Apple isn't as big there as Western news makes it out to be.

     

    Somebody wise would ask for an explanation of how mainland Chinese see image and electronics and educate themselves. But I'm sorry, your screenname makes it clear that you are the expert on all things Asian, you take analysis of Apple's faults personally because it's totally clear that Apple never made a mistake ever.

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  • Reply 52 of 62
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by steveH View Post

     



    "Only Nixon could have gone to China".

     

    Even modernized, China is still Communist, unless you don't want to believe the PRC's public position. They just take advantage of economics that the USSR never managed to understand.




    They are Communist on paper, not in practice. They are however, totalitarian.

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  • Reply 53 of 62
    shsfshsf Posts: 302member

    Since we are on the subject of thin and light, anyone else would want a two port magsafe and usb3/thunderbolt uber thin fanless macbook at 15" inches? Maybe the next macbook on the horizon, just maybe fingers crossed. 

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  • Reply 54 of 62
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post





    Chinese tastes have typically floated somewhere between "garish" and "revolting", however with their increased exposure to the world I've seen a rapid evolution and adoption of much more sophisticated fashion and styles. There is still plenty of trash, but it's gotten better.

     

    Kinda of agree with you. Chinese taste, especially of the mid-aged group, is somehow garish.  

    But younger people, especially the well-educated ones, are getting better in this.

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  • Reply 55 of 62
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    steveh wrote: »

    "Only Nixon could have gone to China".

    Even modernized, China is still Communist, unless you don't want to believe the PRC's public position. They just take advantage of economics that the USSR never managed to understand.

    Interesting slant on Nixon's trip to China in the new bio "One Man Against the World," by Tim Weiner. The purpose of the trip was to try to talk Mao into pressuring the North Vietnamese into a peace deal. Nixon failed, Kissinger too I suppose—haven't read the book yet.

    The idea that only a conservative could have gotten away with making a US deal with China may be correct, but it's based on a false notion that Nixon and Kissinger knew what they were doing. From beginning to end they underestimated the resolve and the moral advantage of the North Vietnamese, and the Chinese dedication to anti-imperialist revolution.
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  • Reply 56 of 62
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    konqerror wrote: »
    Article: China is a very important market for Apple and they're taking into account Chinese tastes in product design
    Me: Apple failed to understand the concept of image and outward appearances in the Chinese market, which made the plastic 5C a flop.
    You: You're wrong! It sold well in the US! Take this anecdotal evidence!

    Why are you assuming the 5C was designed for the Chinese market?
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  • Reply 57 of 62
    shsfshsf Posts: 302member
    :smokey:Quote:

    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post





    Why are you assuming the 5C was designed for the Chinese market?



    The C is a dead giveaway. 

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  • Reply 58 of 62
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    shsf wrote: »

    The C is a dead giveaway. 

    I thought so too once, but later saw it as "color."
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  • Reply 59 of 62
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    quadra 610 wrote: »
    Zen was (is) a form of dhyana (meditation-centric) Buddhism imported to China from India. Buddhism existed in China long before Zen was brought there. It's not a practice inidigenous to China. But it fit nicely because of syncretism with Taoist traditions.

    I know what you mean to say, I'm just being picky. ;)

    Correct, pick away. I just meant to point out that Chan begat Zen, and that the art of both is beautifully and simply unlike what people are thinking of when they generalize about Chinese "taste." Most are familiar with Zen art, but not the Chinese parent.

    Thanks for pointing out to us that the root word is "dhyana," which I imagine begins with a "j" sound. Thus Chan, then Zen.
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  • Reply 60 of 62
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dunks View Post





    What? Hello Kitty and maneki neko (Lucky Cat) are both Japanese.



    Oh, you are right. I guess not all Japanese style is minimalistic.

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