What Do The Chinese Think About The Cheaper iPhone?

By Herman Lai, posted Jan 12, 2013 at 8:34 AM, 941 views,

What Do The Chinese Think About The Cheaper iPhone?

Over this week, there were plenty of buzz from major medias like WSJ, DigiTime and Reuters about whether a cheaper iPhone is in the work or not. Coincidentally, Tim Cook and Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller were spotted in China meeting with a number of Chinese government officials, China’s three major mobile operators and interviewed by local journalists. In an official interview with Phil Schiller, he allegedly told the Shanghai Evening News that “Apple is not interested in making a cheap and low-profit iPhone”. However, this claim is now rejected after the publisher made “substantial changes” to the article. Rumors of the cheaper iPhone are still swirling around, and we have translated several comments from China’s biggest social network Sina Weibo. Let’s take a look of what do they think about the low-cost iPhone after the break.

Below are some of comments that we translated from a weibo on “最牛傻蛋” account:

“A cheaper iPhone despises Chinese people. Chinese are wealthy.” [51CTO移动开发频道]

“Steve Jobs died too early. Apple is done.” [魅族小强2010]

“Shit! It’s made to satisfy the vanity of Chinese people.” [曹昊stronger]

“This move is certainly a failure for Apple.” [被涂鸦的蟹盖头]

“Buying the cheaper iPhone is losing face. It’s better for the iPhone remains high priced.” [清风半袖]

“This is a bad idea. Apple doesn’t understand the consumers in China. Chinese users love to show off their bling, expensive possessions confer a higher social status. Some people are willing to sell their kidney for a costly iPhone. Apple to launch a low-end cheap iPhone? Well, China has a bunch of Shanzhai vendors making budget smartphones, and it is very unlikely for Apple to win in this field.” [mp3pan]

“Apple iPhone has always been labeled as high-end and exquisite product. Apple is not short of money, and it is not necessarily to compete with Android over the market share. What Apple needs to do is just keep walking toward its myth.” [Fuck-cu]

“Personally, I think it’s unnecessarily for Apple to launch a budget iPhone in order to capture market share. If the rumor is true about Apple working on a cheaper iPhone, it’ll kill the noble impression of iPhone. Unlike iPad, an iPad mini doesn’t mean a cheaper iPad, it’s made to cater various sizes of the tablet’s market.” [老洛神]

“I think the cheaper iPhone could satisfy portion of consumers if the iPhone looks different. In contrast, if the cheaper iPhone looks the same as the regular version, consumers could easily deceive by scalpers or other unofficial retailers.” [c君不在]