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China's lukewarm over new iPhones due to high price and lack of innovation
價格太高缺乏創新 新款iPhone銷售遇冷
Apple has unveiled its new iPhones, and for the first time the silicon valley giant held a launch event in Beijing, underscoring the importance of the Chinese market.
However, response from Apple fans has been lukewarm to say the least. High prices and similar functions are fans’ main gripes, of a company famed for innovation.
The plastic-backed iPhone 5C costs 4,488 yuan, or some 730 U.S. dollars in China. That is almost 200 dollars’ more expensive than the price in Apple’s domestic market. And compared with its top-of-the-line sibling, the iPhone 5S, the price gap is only about 130 U.S. dollars, no much difference.
"My original expectation was that the 5C would cost around 3,000 yuan, but now, as you just said, it’s over 4,000, I think it’s a little too expensive for a budget version."said Liu Donghai, a Beijing Apple fan.
But hardcore fans like him speak highly of the IOS system.
"Even if the next generation of Apple mobile phones don’t have much of an obvious upgrade, as long as the ecosystem of the IOS Apps still exists, for me the it’s still much better value than Android."said Liang Hai, a Beijing Apple fan.
Analysts say, iPhones are not a fashionable choice for young Chinese consumers any more, many of them are shifting to home made smart phones.
"So Apple is no longer the cool, aspiration purchase that Chinese twenty-somethings all want. Their brand image has really deteriorated in the last quarter...Apple hasn’t been innovating and coming out with new cool products in the last six to nine months."said Shaun Rein, Managing Director of China Market Research Group.
iPhone’s share of Chinese smartphone market slipped to 5 percent in the second quarter this year.
For the same time period, local smart phone makers like Lenovo, ZTE, Huawei and Xiaomi all boasted higher market shares than iPhone with lower price and similar functions.
