Apple's mindshare in Asia far outweighs marketshare
With just a sliver of phone and computer sales in the world's most populous region, Apple still managed to top all other companies to become the region's most admired in a new ranking.
Apple took top honors in The Wall Street Journal's Asia 200 survey this year, despite reportedly having just 1.6 percent of the personal computer share in the region, and only 0.6 percent of the total mobile phone market. The company's perceived success among consumers is attributed to superior marketing and branding of themselves.
When broken down by attribute, Apple consistently appeared among the top five companies ranked by consumers in Asia. For long-term vision, the Mac maker was second, fifth for quality, fourth for corporate reputation, and second for innovation.
While Apple's presence in the region is minor -- particularly in the smartphone market, where it has made great inroads in the western world -- Apple is working to change that. Last month, the handset maker struck a three-year deal to sell the iPhone on carrier China Unicom. That non-exclusive agreement has left the door open for a separate agreement with the world's largest wireless carrier, China Mobile.
And while the iPhone had struggled at first in Japan, the handset has continued to grow in popularity over the years. This summer, it became the nation's top-selling smartphone.
Still, the Journal noted, struggles remain for Apple to penetrate the market.
"While the company's iconic iPod is popular in Asia, Apple's iTunes store remains out of reach of most Asian consumers," the report said. "Apple has set up iTunes in Japan and Australia only. Copyright is the big hurdle. Apple has to conclude deals with individual record labels at the country level to allow songs to be sold on the iTunes platform in each market. That labyrinth process has mired efforts to make the service more widely available in Asia. The company is also likely concerned about piracy in Asia, say many analysts."
Apple's strength in a global recession has earned the company respect internationally. Last quarter, the company's profits rose 15 percent on sales of 2.6 million Macs and 5.2 million iPhones. It was a record non-holiday quarter for the company, with $8.34 billion in sales for the three-month period that ended June 27.
Apple took top honors in The Wall Street Journal's Asia 200 survey this year, despite reportedly having just 1.6 percent of the personal computer share in the region, and only 0.6 percent of the total mobile phone market. The company's perceived success among consumers is attributed to superior marketing and branding of themselves.
When broken down by attribute, Apple consistently appeared among the top five companies ranked by consumers in Asia. For long-term vision, the Mac maker was second, fifth for quality, fourth for corporate reputation, and second for innovation.
While Apple's presence in the region is minor -- particularly in the smartphone market, where it has made great inroads in the western world -- Apple is working to change that. Last month, the handset maker struck a three-year deal to sell the iPhone on carrier China Unicom. That non-exclusive agreement has left the door open for a separate agreement with the world's largest wireless carrier, China Mobile.
And while the iPhone had struggled at first in Japan, the handset has continued to grow in popularity over the years. This summer, it became the nation's top-selling smartphone.
Still, the Journal noted, struggles remain for Apple to penetrate the market.
"While the company's iconic iPod is popular in Asia, Apple's iTunes store remains out of reach of most Asian consumers," the report said. "Apple has set up iTunes in Japan and Australia only. Copyright is the big hurdle. Apple has to conclude deals with individual record labels at the country level to allow songs to be sold on the iTunes platform in each market. That labyrinth process has mired efforts to make the service more widely available in Asia. The company is also likely concerned about piracy in Asia, say many analysts."
Apple's strength in a global recession has earned the company respect internationally. Last quarter, the company's profits rose 15 percent on sales of 2.6 million Macs and 5.2 million iPhones. It was a record non-holiday quarter for the company, with $8.34 billion in sales for the three-month period that ended June 27.
Comments
The issues is not priacy but actually resolving deals with record companies, which not just the TOP 5 in world globally but the local BIG companies. Apple were able to do a deal in India with concern to the Bollywood movies, there would make a lot of in-roads into selling iPods/Inanos.
Bollywood makes more money per year than Hollywood easily.
IP have been resolved in India from 2005, since the Life Sciences is a booming industry, so I see no reason to worry about IP/Piracy, since piracy is the same were ever you go and India has some tough laws, if you get caught.
Hope Apple can crack the Indian market, since it one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world, let alone, its economy.
piracy in Asia is not different from piracy in US.
The issues is not priacy but actually resolving deals with record companies, which not just the TOP 5 in world globally but the local BIG companies. Apple were able to do a deal in India with concern to the Bollywood movies, there would make a lot of in-roads into selling iPods/Inanos.
Bollywood makes more money per year than Hollywood easily.
IP have been resolved in India from 2005, since the Life Sciences is a booming industry, so I see no reason to worry about IP/Piracy, since piracy is the same were ever you go and India has some tough laws, if you get caught.
Hope Apple can crack the Indian market, since it one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world, let alone, its economy.
I agree. If Apple could put stuff from Bollywood on iTunes store, this would be great, for both costumers and Apple. Though at times I wonder whether Apple has got the good mix of desire and skills to penetrate the Indian market.
I am holding.
Prime example is Toyota and Sony it took them 25 to 30 years to accomplish what they set out to do.
I can also tell you that apple/Steve is still executing against the long term plan they put together in 1984, which said they technologies will converge over time and that people will have technologies at their finger tips and easy access to information. Apple lose its way in the 90's but Steve has it back on track. Steve and Apple have a fundamental guiding principle which MS does not have and Steve is very much Asian in this way.
piracy in Asia is not different from piracy in US.
Actually it very different, at least in the US people do recognize IP and copyrights and that a person or company owns it and has rights to profit form it. In many Asian countries this is not a concept they get or really understand. They see everything is for the common good and just because it is your ideals, thoughts or creation does not precludes them from copying and making money off it.
In China they do not see a problem with taking music or videos and copying them and selling the, it is just the way things are done.
piracy in Asia is not different from piracy in US.
If you believe that then you you really must talk to this guy in New York who is selling a bridge cheap--I think it goes to a place called Brooklyn.
Seriously, as "US$4b losses from software piracy in Asia" showed the piracy situation in Asia in 2000 was a full fledged crisis. The 2004 Oftware Piracy Study Finds That Asia Pacific Region Accounted For Almost Us$8 Billion In Losses Last Year showed that overall the mess had improved very minority. The 2008 Business Software Alliance report showed a increase in Asian Pacific piracy while the US stayed at its 20-21% the lowest of all the nations in the study.
Gangs and Organized Crime are involved in the oversees trade per (FBI, Chinese bust huge software piracy ring) and issues with government corruption and lack of resources-elements not seen in the US.
Is there some proof of this? I sure hope AppleInsider isn't going by that lazy, discredited WIRED article! Here in reality, the immediate reaction to the iPhone in Japan was awesome, with long lines on the release date, sold-out stores, and week-long waits for the next round of buyers...
Anyhow, I am typing this on my iMac 9,1 so...
piracy in Asia is not different from piracy in US.
You've got to be kidding. In most parts of Asia you can find repackaged pirated goods being sold all over the place in stores. Heck, you can even find pirated goods all over the place in Chinatown, San Francisco, and even in places like the Japantown Mall there. And back in Asia, we're not just talking about DVDs and the like--it scales up to everything from video games to advanced watches and electronics.
Bollywood makes more money per year than Hollywood easily.
Nope.
Bollywood made a revenue of $1.75 Billion in 2006(estimated to rise to $3.4 Billion in 2010) which is only half the revenue of what one Hollywood studio, Walt Disney made in 2006 ? and that is saying a lot. However, while Hollywood?s market inside the US has almost saturated, India?s 500 million population under the age of 20 will ensure that the market inside India will grow exponentially in the coming years.
Although Hollywood produces only a fraction of the number of films made all over the world, it garners a staggering 75% of total revenues. Also, 50% of its earnings(expected to grow to 80% in the next 20 years) come from the foreign market whereas for Bollywood it is 20%.
Hollywood has an overwhelming domination among the top grossers worldwide ? almost all of the top 50 movies are made in Hollywood. It has virtually eclipsed all other film industries except Bollywood ? for instance, the European film industry cut down to 1/10th of its size since 1910.
piracy in Asia is not different from piracy in US.
I can't speak to the issue of piracy in India, specifically, but in China piracy is ingrained in the culture so deeply and corruption in some areas is so pervasive that you can even find a giant mall filled with nothing but knock-offs in Shenzhen.
Actually it very different, at least in the US people do recognize IP and copyrights and that a person or company owns it and has rights to profit form it. In many Asian countries this is not a concept they get or really understand. They see everything is for the common good and just because it is your ideals, thoughts or creation does not precludes them from copying and making money off it.
In China they do not see a problem with taking music or videos and copying them and selling the, it is just the way things are done.
I lived in Asia in major countries for many years, you are talking about 5-10 years ago and not sure if you seen the changes in Singapore, Malaysia, India, Korea, Thailand, were the police and government have really cracked down on piracy openly.
Btw China is not Asia, yes it has 1.4 or 1.6 Billion people, but India has 1.2 billion people and there have very tough laws on piracy now especially in Mumbai.
If there were issues in IP laws in Asia countries, then China and India would not be fastest growing countries with concern to life science outsourcing.
Lets get our facts correct.
Btw: Majority of people in US do not have a problem copying something where it innocent or not, so lets not go down that route. Just that more money has been poured into system to try and fear the people from Hollywood, record companies and software companies..
Nope.
I knew someone would post that article, if you live in India, people will laugh at you because everyone knows Bollywood does not post its real earnings because a lot of is off-shore due to Indian investors not wanting to pay tax in India.
Great example is Tata Chairman is said to be worth USD1 billion, everyone knows he worth much more that, but no one including Forbes has been able to obtain his worth. Mittel, Ambani etc also very private with their fortunes.
I should have said in terms of films and cinema sales/revenues, what I mistaken forgot is video, merchandising etc., which of course Hollywood makes a ton of money.
Soul
Nope.
Actually it very different, at least in the US people do recognize IP and copyrights and that a person or company owns it and has rights to profit form it. In many Asian countries this is not a concept they get or really understand. They see everything is for the common good and just because it is your ideals, thoughts or creation does not precludes them from copying and making money off it.
In China they do not see a problem with taking music or videos and copying them and selling the, it is just the way things are done.
An iphone in India costs about 700$ with a 30$ a month tied in contract without 3G. India has one of the largest growing mobile markets in the world. All new product releases make it to this market first as phones don't have to be tied to a service provider. An ipod touch costs 400$ at Apple retailers. Apple wonders about market share? pfft. Clueless doesn't begin to describe it.
Anyhow, I am typing this on my iMac 9,1 so...
If you believe that then you you really must talk to this guy in New York who is selling a bridge cheap--I think it goes to a place called Brooklyn.
Seriously, as "US$4b losses from software piracy in Asia" showed the piracy situation in Asia in 2000 was a full fledged crisis. The 2004 Oftware Piracy Study Finds That Asia Pacific Region Accounted For Almost Us$8 Billion In Losses Last Year showed that overall the mess had improved very minority. The 2008 Business Software Alliance report showed a increase in Asian Pacific piracy while the US stayed at its 20-21% the lowest of all the nations in the study.
Gangs and Organized Crime are involved in the oversees trade per (FBI, Chinese bust huge software piracy ring) and issues with government corruption and lack of resources-elements not seen in the US.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...act_id=1022243 2008 Article so not 4-9 years!
This article is intended as a counterpoint to the all-too-frequent portrayal of China as the world's leading violator of intellectual property rights. In fact, by many measures, China, taken as a whole, is not the leading violator. Some measures show China as the leading violator only because they are aggregates, and do not take into account China's size. When figures are adjusted for population, China's rates of intellectual property violation are lower than those of many other countries, including the United States.
The article first looks at examples of the current round of political and media China-bashing. It then examines figures on international movie piracy provided by the Motion Picture Association (the international counterpart of the Motion Picture Association of America) and compares those figures to the populations of the countries involved. It concludes that the problem of movie piracy is more severe in the U.S. than in China, possibly because of greater broadband access, and more severe still in other countries, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Before you bash China get your facts right!
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...act_id=1022243 2008 Article so not 4-9 years!
This article is intended as a counterpoint to the all-too-frequent portrayal of China as the world's leading violator of intellectual property rights. In fact, by many measures, China, taken as a whole, is not the leading violator. Some measures show China as the leading violator only because they are aggregates, and do not take into account China's size. When figures are adjusted for population, China's rates of intellectual property violation are lower than those of many other countries, including the United States.
The article first looks at examples of the current round of political and media China-bashing. It then examines figures on international movie piracy provided by the Motion Picture Association (the international counterpart of the Motion Picture Association of America) and compares those figures to the populations of the countries involved. It concludes that the problem of movie piracy is more severe in the U.S. than in China, possibly because of greater broadband access, and more severe still in other countries, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Before you bash China get your facts right!
It's precisely because China is so large that the impact of piracy is so large. You cannot adjust for population the losses of billions in pirated goods. The counter-argument is that the people stealing do it because they could not afford it otherwise, but that's just a cop out. They do it for the same reason that people might choose to sell drugs instead of work behind a desk. It's easier and the money's better, after all if you sell something that you paid nothing for that's pure profit. You can't claim ignorance on the fundamental wrong being done.
It's precisely because China is so large that the impact of piracy is so large. You cannot adjust for population the losses of billions in pirated goods. The counter-argument is that the people stealing do it because they could not afford it otherwise, but that's just a cop out. They do it for the same reason that people might choose to sell drugs instead of work behind a desk. It's easier and the money's better, after all if you sell something that you paid nothing for that's pure profit. You can't claim ignorance on the fundamental wrong being done.
Lets not try and change the facts with our own opinions!
Your comment about adjust for population, the losses of billions in pirated goods, think about that again. How can you compare USA with China unless you adjust for difference in population. Any stats taken in comparing countries has to take in differences in population, you can't just ignore it because it does not support your argument.
Sorry mate facts are facts.
NO one was saying it not wrong to undertake piracy, the discussion was the severity of piracy in China, which you so bluntly said was worse than USA.
Lets not try and change the facts with our own opinions!
Your comment about adjust for population, the losses of billions in pirated goods, think about that again. How can you compare USA with China unless you adjust for difference in population. Any stats taken in comparing countries has to take in differences in population, you can't just ignore it because it does not support your argument.
Sorry mate facts are facts.
NO one was saying it not wrong to undertake piracy, the discussion was the severity of piracy in China, which you so bluntly said was worse than USA.
Let's look at it as a math problem:
USA population = approx. 304 million
China population = approx. 1,330 million
So you see, with a population more than 4 times the US, China's cumulative pirate activities could be staggeringly severe ... mate. Even if a quarter of their population was involved in some form of piracy or whatnot, it would still be greater than the entirety of the American populace. There's no definitive proof of how the total numbers of pirated/stolen/knock-offs affect economies, but they do affect the companies whose products are being trafficked, copied, sold under the table, etc.
Every country has an underground economy, after all that's how things really work out in the world, so what have you to say about the real-world black market in India?
There's no definitive proof of how the total numbers of pirated/stolen/knock-offs affect economies, but they do affect the companies whose products are being trafficked, copied, sold under the table, etc.
Attached is a recent report on software priracy. Per the report, China has improved from about 90% pirated to about 80% pirated in the last 5 years....I guess you can call this a 100% improvement, but hardly a success.
Even so, the most dollars lost due to software piracy are here in the US. We may not have as many people, but we have lots of computers and expensive software.
http://global.bsa.org/globalpiracy20...piracy2008.pdf
SpamSandwich just for you, from the report
United States $9,143
China $6,677
Russia $4,215
India $2,768
France $2,760
United Kingdom $2,181
Germany $2,152
Italy $1,895
Brazil $1,645
Japan $1,495
Canada $1,222
Spain $1,029
Mexico $823
Poland $648
South Korea $622
Australia $613
Thailand $609
Netherlands $563
Indonesia $544
Ukraine $534
Venezuela $484
Turkey $468
Sweden $372
Malaysia $368
Switzerland $345
Of course we need to implement strategies to ensure that people's perception of piracy changes in the Asian countries, so that it shows negative growth, but let's ensure we also keep focusing on 'developed' countries.
India + China = 9,445 vs. USA 9,143
Population 2.48 Billion vs. 304M
Thanks for the report Jyhfeei, very interesting reading.
SpamSandwich just for you, from the report
United States $9,143
China $6,677
Russia $4,215
India $2,768
France $2,760
United Kingdom $2,181
Germany $2,152
Italy $1,895
Brazil $1,645
Japan $1,495
Canada $1,222
Spain $1,029
Mexico $823
Poland $648
South Korea $622
Australia $613
Thailand $609
Netherlands $563
Indonesia $544
Ukraine $534
Venezuela $484
Turkey $468
Sweden $372
Malaysia $368
Switzerland $345
Of course we need to implement strategies to ensure that people's perception of piracy changes in the Asian countries, so that it shows negative growth, but let's ensure we also keep focusing on 'developed' countries.
India + China = 9,445 vs. USA 9,143
Population 2.48 Billion vs. 304M
You could look at this report another way. China is a huge potential market that has a long way till maturity. If as much software (worth) per person was used in China as the US, the amount of value pirated in China would be 17.5 times the value pirated in the US.
(80% pirated in China/ 20% pirated in US) x (1330 million people China / 304 million people US) = 17.5 times!
China's software market (and the rest of Asia) is growing fast and they need to keep significantly reducing piracy rates or they will quickly surpass US in piracy worth.