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The iPhone debate: Are some Chinese markets freer than American Markets?
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posted Sunday, 17 February 2008
In the old days when you thought of China and business you thought of a highly restricted environment where the heads of monolithic bodies told business what it was going to do, and business told consumers that they had one of two choices when it came to consuming 1) Like it 2) Lump it.
Equally, when you thought of America you thought of an environment that was largely free from interference where consumer demand was the key to success. Consumers demanded it, you gave it to them, you succeeded.
However it would now seem that, in some areas at least, things are being turned on their head. With China being the land of free enterprise, and America being the land where monolithic bodies present consumers with start choices that boiled down to "It's my way or the highway". At least, that's how it can sometimes seem in today's America, where you can now go to jail for opening up a gadget and finding out how to add new feature to it.
From the pen of technology writer Tom Krazit
China Mobile running 400,000 unlocked iPhones
As many as 400,000 unlocked iPhones were running on China Mobile's cellular network at the end of last year, according to market research firm In-Stat.
Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, and more than 10 percent of them are in China, In-Stat said, attributing that information to China Mobile. That helps explain part of the "iPhone gap" created by the difference between Apple's shipping totals for 2007 and the activations reported by its carrier partners in the U.S. and Europe.
Somewhere around 1 million iPhones are thought to have been unlocked, and 400,000 are in China.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Despite Apple's attempts to keep iPhone unlocking under wraps with new software and changes to the iPhone's bootloader, enterprising entrepreneurs are apparently giving the people what they want. This is a bit of an opportunity lost for Apple, since the company has signed lucrative revenue-sharing deals with its carrier partners that don't apply if an iPhone is unlocked from its respective network.
But, as In-Stat noted in a report, at least it shows people want the iPhone. The firm said Chinese consumers want smartphones with multimedia features and Web browsing, and the iPhone fills that need nicely. And they're willing to pay for it: 20 percent of smartphones sold in China last year went for 4,000RMB ($533) or more.
Apple had at one point discussed the iPhone with China Mobile, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs downplayed the significance of those talks, saying the companies just had a single meeting. The iPhone is set to make its official debut in Asia at some point in 2008, probably sooner rather than later, but it's clearly a hot item in China already.
As many as 400,000 unlocked iPhones were running on China Mobile's cellular network at the end of last year, according to market research firm In-Stat.
Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, and more than 10 percent of them are in China, In-Stat said, attributing that information to China Mobile. That helps explain part of the "iPhone gap" created by the difference between Apple's shipping totals for 2007 and the activations reported by its carrier partners in the U.S. and Europe.
Somewhere around 1 million iPhones are thought to have been unlocked, and 400,000 are in China.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Despite Apple's attempts to keep iPhone unlocking under wraps with new software and changes to the iPhone's bootloader, enterprising entrepreneurs are apparently giving the people what they want. This is a bit of an opportunity lost for Apple, since the company has signed lucrative revenue-sharing deals with its carrier partners that don't apply if an iPhone is unlocked from its respective network.
But, as In-Stat noted in a report, at least it shows people want the iPhone. The firm said Chinese consumers want smartphones with multimedia features and Web browsing, and the iPhone fills that need nicely. And they're willing to pay for it: 20 percent of smartphones sold in China last year went for 4,000RMB ($533) or more.
Apple had at one point discussed the iPhone with China Mobile, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs downplayed the significance of those talks, saying the companies just had a single meeting. The iPhone is set to make its official debut in Asia at some point in 2008, probably sooner rather than later, but it's clearly a hot item in China already.
Of course, with all of this said, people are still unlocking their iPhones in America, you just don't get stores doing it as openly as they can in China. Maybe it is time for US companies to take heed and to stop telling consumers what they can and can't do with products that they have purchased, and for lawmakers to step in on the side of consumers. It's already law that phones must be ale to be sold unlocked in countries like France. Why not in America?
Personally, ACB believes that once something has left the factory it should be beyond the reach of the company that made it, and that any retailer should be able to open up any gadget and do anything (within reason) to it on behalf of consumer demand. If an consumer wants their phone unlocked then it should be allowed to be unlocked and the company should be prohibited from willfully acting against people who do this. Else a purchase isn't so much a purchase as it is a rental service.
View Comments/Add a Comment (5)
1. Matthew Stinson left...
Sunday, 17 February 2008 7:50 pm :: http://expat.wordpress.com
I'm not sure I'd describe a grey market -- which is what the iPhone sales
amount to -- as a free market. For one thing, if your Chinese-bought
unlocked iPhone tanks, there's no way to service it.
2. ACB left...
Sunday, 17 February 2008 8:31 pm
Personally, I see the grey/gray market as being the ultimate expression of
free market entrepreneurship. Put simply, the big companies either refuse
to supply a product or supply it in a way that the consumer finds
detrimental. This creates a niche market which an entrepreneurial
businessman can seize upon. This used to be the life blood of the US SME,
but US law is so keyed to big busines that it's pretty much illegal to do a
lot of the things that once made the US a hub of innovation and business.
3. chinese left...
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 10:14 am :: http://digchinese.com/
In that China has fewer enforced laws or regulations, wouldn't it be one of
the freest markets in the world?
4. Mo'thanskin (Roosevelt) left...
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 2:06 pm :: http://mothanskin.blog-city.com
It is fascinating to watch the evolution of Free Enterprise, first in
America and now globally, particularly in China! Free Enterprise does need
regulations but not too much regulation. Through trial and error, common
sense and a committment to the principle of Free Enterprise, solutions will
arise. Excellent post!
5. ACB left...
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 3:49 am
China's a bit of a mishmash.