By Star Chang, posted Dec 27, 2012 at 2:02 PM, 1,672 views,

Profit of iPhone 5 Screen Protector Is More Than The Phone

After iPhone 5 recently went on sale in China, retailers of the popular smartphone are relying on accessories for more of their earnings as profits rather than the sale of the phones. A shop assistant at an Apple reseller, claims that mobile phone retailers normally make only 1 percent profit from a single iPhone 5 handset. By selling screen protector, the profit margin is much thicker. The price of an iPhone 5 screen protector in China varies between 20 yuan (US$3.20) to 228 yuan (US$36.60), while the wholesale price of the thin plastic films is around 2.8 yuan (US$0.45) only …

Chinese journalist visited a mobile phone store in Nanjing city, and found two varieties of protection membranes available: one priced at 160 yuan (US$25) and the other cost 186 yuan (US$30). The sale said the more expensive one called “diamond film screen protector” and it is their top selling accessory. In another store, the salesman assured that the 80 yuan (US$13) screen protector for sale in his shop is no different in quality to the 200 yuan (US$32) one sold at authorized Apple resellers. While on the street-side, you can also find hawkers selling phone accessory and screen protectors, you can picked for even less — for between 10 yuan (US$1.60) to 20 yuan (US$3.20). He claimed that his products are virtually indistinguishable from those available at Apple resellers as they all obtain their merchandise from the same suppliers.

According to an Apple reseller at Nanjing’s IT mall, every customer who buys an iPhone 5 is pressured to fork out for screen protectors, cases or other accessories, which often priced at over 300 yuan (US$48) as the profit margins on phone sales are intensely less. Previously, we have reported the market of screen protection films for Apple devices are valued at more than 100 million yuan (US$14.64 million) in China. It has already become a huge industry chain consisting of over 1,000 manufacturers. Most of the Apple user in China are very concerned about their screen. They feel it will get scratches after heavy used (now it should be the aluminum shell …). The screen protector’s sales will continue to thrive thanks to the new iPhone 5.

SOURCE: Yangtse Evening Post (Chinese content)