iPhone
Munster: China iPhone activations a disappointment
By Jim DalrympleNovember 3, 2009, 10:42 am PT
Apple kicked off the iPhone in China last week, but things didn’t go as well as expected, according to a report from Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst, Gene Munster.
China Unicom signed up 5,000 iPhone users in the first four days the device was available in that country, according to Munster. The numbers are a “disappointment,” Munster said.
Analysts viewed China as one of the main areas that Apple could significantly boost its iPhone sales. Munster is now discounting China and looking to the UK and Canada, as those countries begin selling the iPhone on multiple carriers. Of course, holiday quarter numbers are always a wildcard and could help iPhone numbers significantly.
Overall, Munster is holding firm on his estimate of 9.2 million iPhone units for the December quarter and 36 million iPhone’s sold in 2010.
In its most recent fiscal quarter, Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones, representing seven percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
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Munster: China iPhone activations a disappointment
By Jim DalrympleNovember 3, 2009, 10:42 am PT
Apple kicked off the iPhone in China last week, but things didn’t go as well as expected, according to a report from Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst, Gene Munster.
China Unicom signed up 5,000 iPhone users in the first four days the device was available in that country, according to Munster. The numbers are a “disappointment,” Munster said.
Analysts viewed China as one of the main areas that Apple could significantly boost its iPhone sales. Munster is now discounting China and looking to the UK and Canada, as those countries begin selling the iPhone on multiple carriers. Of course, holiday quarter numbers are always a wildcard and could help iPhone numbers significantly.
Overall, Munster is holding firm on his estimate of 9.2 million iPhone units for the December quarter and 36 million iPhone’s sold in 2010.
In its most recent fiscal quarter, Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones, representing seven percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
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8 Responses to “Munster: China iPhone activations a disappointment”
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More expensive with less features than regular iPhones …wonder why people are not biting.
Not to mention the numbers of iPhones that are already activated.
Do these guys get paid to specifically get hysterical about things before anything actually happens? How can it be a disappointment already? Did he call the Pre a disappointment within hours of it begin available?
Those numbers can’t be right. Not even 1,500 new signups per *day*? I know that there are plenty of fully-featured iPhones available through other means, but in a country like China, 5,000 users is less than a rounding error.
When the Government dictates whether you could ship a phone with WIFI or maybe even what price you could sell a phone for, then you wonder why we should protect our own products against unfair competition.
I had a hunch China would be a disappointment for Apple. After all, it’s a country where piracy and counterfeit products are rampant. The Land of Fake iPhones and fake iPods. Why would any of them pay for the authentic Apple-sanctioned products and services when they can already get it cheap and illegal in the black market? Why pay for an official service when you can easily hack it, crack it or jailbreak it for a few yuan? It also has been in the news for months that many in China already had counterfeit iPhones. If they are already content with their wanna-be lookalike iPhones, why would they want to pay a lot more for the genuine Apple product?
Maybe I sound like a bigot, but Apple should stick to developed nations like USA, Europe and Japan, countries that have infrastructure to support technologies like 3G and consumers that actually are willing to pay for legitimate and legal (non-bootleg) products and services.
At $700 plus per phone it is also daunting in the US. if not for the subsidies by ATT the success wouldn’t be like what it is today.
Even Russia and India are having the same problem because of the price and not because of its technology.
Can’t say more but agree to the comments. A friend bought an Apple-like phone plus tv, before 3Gs was launched. An Apple Store in China?