Apple is known as a dominating phone manufacturer in the industry. However, this blog post by a COMM 101 classmate, Laura, explores how despite Apple’s success, it seems to have failed to have the same dominance in the Chinese market – losing out to local handset provider, Xiaomi, by 0.2%.
Recently, it seems that Apple has realized this as well and is now attempting to become more aggressive in China.
In an article by CNBC, it has been revealed that leaked posters obtained by Unwiredview.com hinted at a deal between Apple and China Mobile to promote the new iPhone to Chinese consumers. If successful, this could give Apple a significant boost in the Chinese market as Apple would have access to China Mobile’s estimated 700 million subscribers – a relatively loyal customer base as people are less likely to go through the trouble of switching carriers.
Through this partnership, Apple may be able to make cuts on marketing activities and benefit from China Mobile’s knowledge of their target market. This deal could contribute significantly to Apple gaining market share and becoming more competitive against Xiaomi. While the deal is still uncertain, analysts speculate that “Apple will announce a deal with China Mobile in November”.
Even Apple is reaching out to the Chinese market, wouldn’t you still say it’s not enough? I mean, certainly the iphone 5C is prices way too high in comparison to it’s rival Xiaomi. Even partnering up with China Mobile wouldn’t cut the costs of the phone, and there still needs to be key activities made by Apple in China in order to catch the attention, as you mentioned, of the 700 million potential costumers.
Hmm, yes I agree, partnering up with China Mobile probably isn’t enough right now but I think it’s definitely a step towards Apple capturing more of the Chinese market 🙂