蘋果公司(Apple)在12月16日宣布，中國用戶對于 iPhone 5 的反應(yīng)熱烈，上市三天內(nèi)即已售出超過200萬部了，這似乎讓許多人對于中國智能手機消費用戶的龐大胃口感到震驚。媒體紛紛以“iPhones 5在中國銷售創(chuàng)新高紀(jì)錄”的醒目頭條大肆報導(dǎo)。
有關(guān)蘋果公司的種種新聞總是眾所目的焦點，然而近來大多數(shù)的報導(dǎo)似乎直指同一方向──或多或少地暗示著即使喬布斯(Steve Jobs)去世了，蘋果可沒有！它并未因此而失去其魔力。
值得注意的，發(fā)布任何產(chǎn)品上市前三天的銷售資料可不是蘋果以前會做的事。蘋果CEO庫克(Tim Cook)在一份聲明中說，這次的銷售表現(xiàn)“創(chuàng)下了 iPhone 在中國首銷周末三日的最佳成績?！?
過去三個月來，蘋果公司股 票已經(jīng)下滑超過25%了。因此，當(dāng)上周 iPhone 5 在中國一開賣，引來一些負(fù)面報導(dǎo)指出中國蘋果專賣店外幾近冷清的情況后，庫克勢必感到必須說些振奮人心的話。
因此，讓我們揭開蘋果 iPhone 5 在中國銷售的神秘面紗一窺究竟：
1. 蘋果專賣店的客流量：在中國共有七家蘋果專賣店，但這并不是衡量中國消費者是否喜好 iPhone 的唯一指針。
畢竟，蘋果還建置了線上預(yù)購系統(tǒng)來配發(fā)銷售，以避免為轉(zhuǎn)售而購買 iPhone 。換句話說，為蘋果新產(chǎn)品而大排長籠的情況并不存在，原因在于中國消費者如果沒有預(yù)購是無法買到 iPhone 的。
北京蘋果專賣店
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• iPhone 5中國首日遇冷，配件商難為無米之炊
• 深度評論：蘋果遷產(chǎn)線回國，可不是為了愛國
• iPhone 5S來得真快！疑似背蓋照曝光lx6esmc
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2. iPhone 在中國的銷售主要透過蘋果與移動運營商之間的銷售授權(quán)協(xié)議，運營商需負(fù)擔(dān)沉重的補貼。
上海日報報導(dǎo)，中國電信(China Telecom)預(yù)計開賣第一天可銷售10,000支手機，而中國聯(lián)通(China Unicom)表示在上周五中午前就已經(jīng)賣了5,000支。然而，這些廠商卻都未能提供銷售比較數(shù)字。對于這些數(shù)字存在一個值得關(guān)注的問題：沒人知道 iPhone 5 首賣比起以前的 iPhone 手機究竟好多少？
電信官網(wǎng)在iPhone5上市前發(fā)布的廣告
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• 深度評論：蘋果遷產(chǎn)線回國，可不是為了愛國
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3. 強調(diào) iPhone 對于中國消費者來說太貴的這種說法其實是一種誤導(dǎo)。
沒錯，未補貼的 iPhone 一支要價846美元真的太貴，但在中國加入資費方案的 iphone 5 一支可能只需要96美元。
聯(lián)通官網(wǎng)上的iPhone5以及和約套餐，可以看出要想免費用瘋5，每月要消費886元
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本文下一頁：中國移動與蘋果難達(dá)成銷售協(xié)議
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• iPhone 5中國首日遇冷，配件商難為無米之炊
• 深度評論：蘋果遷產(chǎn)線回國，可不是為了愛國
• iPhone 5S來得真快！疑似背蓋照曝光lx6esmc
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4. 中國移動與蘋果之間很難在短期達(dá)成銷售協(xié)議。
許 多業(yè)界分析師的看法幾乎一致：為了進(jìn)入世界上最大的手機市場，蘋果必須與擁有近7億用戶的全球最大移動運營商──中國移動合作了。雖然中國移動和蘋果公司一 直協(xié)商 iPhone 5的銷售協(xié)議，但中國移動準(zhǔn)備提出多少補貼以確保 iPhone 在中國的熱銷，一切還不明朗。
蘋果當(dāng)然希望中國移動也能銷售iPhone手機。但是，更好的問題是中國移動有多么需要 iPhone 來贏得更多的訂戶，以及該公司是否愿意積極地推動功能手機過渡到 TD-SCDMA 網(wǎng)絡(luò)的智能手機？別忘了中國移動已經(jīng)推出一系列專為 TD-SCDMA 網(wǎng)絡(luò)的入門級 Android 智能手機了。該公司不久前才增加了 Nokia Lumia 智能手機。
蘋 果公司也能協(xié)助中國移動推出不只兼容于 TD-SCDMA也符合 TD-LTE 新系統(tǒng)的 iPhone，從而架起過渡新系統(tǒng)的橋梁。甚至，這還可能有助于提升中國移動的 TD-LTE 的市場推廣活動。然而，這一細(xì)分市場(針對多頻段、多標(biāo)準(zhǔn)全球蜂巢式網(wǎng)絡(luò)的 TD-LTE 手機)至少要到2013年年底后才會起飛。
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本文下一頁：中國為蘋果貢獻(xiàn)約15%的營收
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• 深度評論：蘋果遷產(chǎn)線回國，可不是為了愛國
• iPhone 5S來得真快！疑似背蓋照曝光lx6esmc
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5. 中國是蘋果公司第二大且成長最快的市場，為其貢獻(xiàn)約15%的營收。
蘋果公司的特質(zhì)往往與消費電子產(chǎn)業(yè)的傳統(tǒng)作法背道而馳：以少樣但高價產(chǎn)品取勝。它一點都不擔(dān)心自家產(chǎn)品是市場上價格最高的智能手機，還經(jīng)常透過其品牌的絕對優(yōu)勢在新市場取得壓倒性的勝利。
這就是讓我們對于蘋果感到佩服有時還帶點敬畏之處。但是，這也正是我們一直懷疑蘋果獨特的神話還能維持多久的原因。中國或許就是得以破除這一魔咒的市場。
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編譯：Susan Hong
參考英文原文：Yoshida in China: Demystifying Apple's iPhone 5 launch，by Junko Yoshida
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• iPhone 5中國首日遇冷，配件商難為無米之炊
• 深度評論：蘋果遷產(chǎn)線回國，可不是為了愛國
• iPhone 5S來得真快！疑似背蓋照曝光lx6esmc
{pagination}
Yoshida in China: Demystifying Apple’s iPhone 5 launch
Junko Yoshida
Apple CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 5 sales in the first three days were "the best first weekend sales ever in China." Let's analyze the numbers.
MADISON, Wis. – When Apple announced Sunday (Dec. 16) that it had sold more than 2 million iPhone 5s in China, many seemed shocked over the ravenous appetite of Chinese consumers for smartphone. “Record China sales of iPhone 5,” the headlines screamed.
With a seemingly insatiable appetite for news about Apple, most of the reports seem to point in one direction, implying that even though Steve Jobs is dead, Apple ain’t. It hasn’t lost its mojo. Hold that thought for now.
It’s important to note that releasing the first three-day sales data of any product is not something Apple has done before. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that sales had been “the best first weekend sales ever in China.”
Its stock having fallen more than 25 percent in the last three months, Cook must have felt compelled to say something after negative publicity started to swirl last week focusing on nearly empty Apple stores in China during the launch of iPhone 5.
Let’s demystify a few things about Apple and China.
1. Customer traffic in Apple stores --- there are seven in China – isn't the sole measure of the Chinese consumers’ appetite for iPhones.
After all, Apple instituted an online lottery system to allot sales in order to defeat those who buy and then resell iPhones. In other words, the long queues that symbolize new Apple products were not there simply because Chinese customers aren’t allowed to buy an iPhone without a reservation.
2. Sales of iPhones in China, heavily subsidized by cellular operators, are tightly coupled with mobile carriers’ subscription contracts.
Shanghai Daily reported over the weekend that China Telecom was expecting to sell 10,000 phones on the first day of the launch, while China Unicom said it had sold 5,000 by noon last Friday. There are, however, no comparative figures available for sales by these operators. Such figures require a note of caution: No one knows how much better iPhone 5 has done in initial sales compared to previous iPhones.
3. It's misleading to say iPhones are too expensive for Chinese consumers.
Yes, unsubsidized iPhones are expensive (starting at $846), but an iPhone 5 with subscription contract could go for as little as $96 in China.
China Mobile, Apple talks
4. Negotiations between China Mobile and Apple are far from over.
Many industry analysts are singing pretty much the same tune: To tap into the world's biggest phone market, Apple has to cooperate with China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile carrier with almost 700 million users. While there is evidence that China Mobile and Apple have been talking, it’s far from clear how much China Mobile is prepared to give, in terms of subsidies it must offer to ensure big sales of iPhones in China.
It’s clear that Apple wants China Mobile to offer iPhones. But a better question is how badly China Mobile needs iPhones to win more subscribers, and how actively it will promote the switch from feature phones to new smartphones designed for TD-SCDMA networks. Don't forget that China Mobile already has a variety of entry-level Android smartphones designed to work in TD-SCDMA. China Mobile also just added Nokia’s Lumia smartphones to its arsenal.
Apple could help China Mobile bridge the gap by rolling out iPhones that are compatible with not just TD-SCDMA but also the upcoming TD-LTE. This could boost China Mobile’s TD-LTE marketing campaign. But, by all accounts, that market segment (TD-LTE handsets that work in multi-band, multi-standard global cellular networks) is not likely to take off until late 2013.
5. China is Apple's second-largest and fastest-growing market, contributing 15 percent of its revenue.
Apple’s unique qualities, which often run counter to the conventional wisdom in the consumer electronics industry, include: leading with less variety in terms of models and pricing. It doesn't hesitate about being the highest priced smartphone and frequently bulldozes its way into new markets by leveraging the sheer power of its brand name.
This is what we admire and sometimes fear about Apple. But this is also precisely the reason why we keep wondering how long Apple can sustain the myth of its unique qualities. China may be the market that breaks the mold.
責(zé)編：Quentin
