3 ms·
> At the time of the 5C's launch, tech-watchers said the handset was designed to beat off Apple's rivals in fast-growing emerging markets. I am staying in Thai
by ma2rten 13y ago
> At the time of the 5C's launch, tech-watchers said the handset was designed to beat off Apple's rivals in fast-growing emerging markets.
I am staying in Thailand, which may be one of those emerging markets. I will comment on the situation in Thailand, but the situation in other countries may be similar.
The average salary in Thailand is about $350. But that does not make Thailand a price-sensitive market for high-end smartphones. If you want a cheap phone, chinese iPhones copies are readily available starting from $40 on markets and even malls. The people who do buy a real iPhone don't generally buy it for it's features, hardware or apps. They buy because they have money and want to show it. You also see a lot of German luxury cars on street, despite the fact that these taxed at 200%. I heard that if you don't you don't have a Mercedes in Thailand, people don't want to do business with you because they think you are insolvent. A cheaper plastic version of the iPhone, isn't going to cut it in these markets. Rather a more expensive Gold version. Gold has a special meaning for Asians, especially Chinese, who form most of the elite in Thailand.
To a lesser extent I think that also applies Western countries. My former boss, who drove a Porsche, commented on the iPhone 4s launch, that it didn't matter what Apple's latest killer-feature would be. People (including himself) will always want to have the latest iPhone.
- devx 13y agoBut that's mainly a niche market - a market of people who wouldn't care even if the iPhone is $2,000. Apple may very well continue to sell iPhones only to that market, but they will definitely lose market share. And I think Apple, at the very least, wants some compromise between high-end/quality and market share, and aren't purely focused on high-end, no matter what they say in public. They know that if their market is 5 percent of smartphones (which is starting to look that way in a few years, if they change nothing about their strategy) they will start losing the developers. iOS won't be the platform to get apps first, or the most (already isn't here). And I think Apple will try to avoid that as much as possible (as futile as I think that will be).
- obiterdictum 13y agoI think what GP is saying is that in emerging markets, or at least in Thailand, there is no "compromise" market segment (and it's not going to appear regardless how much Apple "want" it). Normal people get ultra cheap phones, rich people get high-end iPhones, which is why 5c is a miss.
- ma2rten 13y agoI am afraid I didn't make the difference between the Thai and Western markets clear enough. Thailand is a strictly hierarchical culture. In the old days it was similar to the Indian caste system. One was born into a caste. Nowadays, how much money you have determines for a large part your position in the hierarchy, but that requires you to show it. Another example: many people don't put their savings in the bank, but wear it in the form of gold. When I said "People who have money and want to show it" what I really meant was "People who have enough money to buy an iPhone and want to show it". I don't think there is a market here for the 5c. It does not fulfill the purpose of an iPhone: showing that you have money and by extent status. However, we will see the 5c/s are not released here yet.
- marcofloriano 13y agoI feel it's the situation at my country (Brazil). People don't own much too, average salary around $650. Apple's stuff are very expensive and most owners (specially of it computers) don't even know how to use the Mac OS X, to the point to want to switch and install Windows on their newly shine Mac (have seen this pattern many times). I really believe that Apple make it's money selling Status and not "cellphones". Steve Jobs showed it. But looks like the new managers at there didn't get it yet.