1. Friday May 25, 2018
      Home > News > Cover stories
      Text:| Print|

      The sour apple

      2012-02-15 18:45 Beijing Review     Web Editor: Wang Fan comment
      The long queue: a large number of Apple fans queue in line at the Lujiazui Apple Store in Shanghai on January 13, 2012, wanting to be the first to get the iPhone 4S to be released in the Chinese market.

      The long queue: a large number of Apple fans queue in line at the Lujiazui Apple Store in Shanghai on January 13, 2012, wanting to be the first to get the iPhone 4S to be released in the Chinese market.

      With the iPhone, iPad and Mac computer line in its arsenal, Apple Inc. enjoys popularity on a global scale among anyone with two thumbs to text and the desire to stay connected with people around the world.

      The worldwide sale of iPhone helped Apple Inc. to exceed LG and ZTE to become the third largest cellphone manufacturer in the world, according to figures provided by International Data Corp. In the fourth quarter last year, Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones, taking 8.7 percent of the global market share.

      Behind the curtain of hi-tech gadgets and breathtaking figures are the men and women producing these Apples: low-paid and hard-working Chinese laborers who work round-the-clock shifts and are exposed to numerous health risks to meet production deadlines.

      The legions of supply chain employees aside, Chinese manufacturers are also left with scraps compared to Apple's overall annual profits.

      Market discrimination

      On the morning of January 13, the planned release date of the much-anticipated iPhone 4S in China, the Apple store in Beijing's Sanlitun shopping area remained closed after a large crowd amassed outside its doors. 

      Fights eventually broke out among customers anxiously awaiting the new "it" product and a few pelted the store's large glass windows to express their frustration.

      Apple underestimated the Chinese demand for the iPhone 4S, said Tim Cook, Apple's current CEO. Bloomberg quoted Cook as saying that "We thought we were betting bold. We didn't bet high enough" on a conference call on January 24 when the company released its first fiscal quarterly report in 2012.

      Apple said China has become its fastest growing market with annual sales valued as high as $13 billion.

      In 2011, the Chinese fervor for iPhone, iPad and Mac products led to 40,000 daily visits to Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

      The company sold 5.6 million iPhones in China in the first nine months last year, making it the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the country in the third quarter, according to Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Connecticut-based research company.

      As Apple's second largest market, China contributed $4.5 billion to Apple's revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011, a staggering year-on-year increase of 270 percent, which accounted for 16 percent of Apple's total quarterly revenue. In sharp contrast, sales in China only accounted for 2 percent of Apple's revenue in 2009.

      Despite the Chinese people's craving for the devices, Apple has never attached importance to the Chinese market. China is still categorized as a third or fourth-tier market, along with the British Virgin Islands, and Cayman Islands, a clear distinction from its status as the second largest market.

      Because Apple products are released much later in China than in other countries, many Apple fans turn to smugglers to satisfy demand.

      Comments (0)

      Copyright ©1999-2011 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

      主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲久本草在线中文字幕| 又爽又高潮的BB视频免费看| 99精品全国免费观看视频 | 国产猛男猛女超爽免费视频| 久99久精品免费视频热77| 国产免费不卡视频| 好大好深好猛好爽视频免费| 亚洲精品国产高清嫩草影院| 国产精品亚洲精品日韩已满| 亚洲国语在线视频手机在线| 亚洲av日韩av永久无码电影| 中文无码日韩欧免费视频| 蜜臀AV免费一区二区三区| 白白国产永久免费视频| 精品亚洲一区二区三区在线观看| 日木av无码专区亚洲av毛片| 亚洲码欧美码一区二区三区| 国产精品小视频免费无限app| 91老湿机福利免费体验| 美女被免费视频网站a国产| 伊人久久亚洲综合| 亚洲AV无码国产精品色| 猫咪免费人成在线网站| 99精品视频在线观看免费专区 | 久久久久亚洲AV成人无码 | 国产亚洲视频在线观看| 在线观看免费播放av片| 成人毛片免费网站| 国产亚洲综合久久系列| 伊人久久亚洲综合影院首页| 成人无码区免费A∨直播| 四虎国产精品免费久久| 亚洲一区二区三区在线播放| 亚洲女人影院想要爱| 一级黄色免费网站| 歪歪漫画在线观看官网免费阅读| 在线观看国产区亚洲一区成人| 亚洲人成网站在线观看播放青青| 一级**爱片免费视频| 国产精品视频免费一区二区| 亚洲精品成人无码中文毛片不卡|