IPhone Demand Outstrips Supply in China

BEIJING—China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. said its supply of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4 handsets is insufficient to meet user demand but that it will increase its supply as quickly as possible. Sales of the model started at a much faster pace than when older versions of the iPhone went on sale in China last year.

Unicom had received more than 200,000 iPhone 4 preorders by early Saturday, the day sales started, and more than 40,000 buyers received the phone and a bundled mobile-service plan that day, Unicom said. By comparison, Unicom last year sold 100,000 iPhone handsets in roughly six weeks after officially introducing the devices in China in late October.

The faster start to iPhone 4 sales comes as Apple has started shortening the time between introducing its devices in the U.S. and China...

[Apple] opened two stores over the weekend, doubling its total in the country, as part of plans to add a total of 25 by the end of next year...

Interest in the iPhone in China appears very strong, and Apple is dramatically increasing its presence there.

I posted this article hoping to spark discussion of Apple's changes in business strategy (such as shortening the time between stateside and overseas introductions).

Please note that the following Apple-related topics have been discussed to death already, and therefore do not require further elaboration in this thread:

Apple's products sell for higher prices than lower-priced competing products.
Apple's customers include some who are fanatically devoted to the Apple product line (fanboys, etc.).
Apple's CEO is very charismatic and is an excellent salesman in addition to being an extraordinarily successful businessman.
Al Gore sits on Apple's Board of Directors.
Rush Limbaugh is an Apple (Mac) fan.
Some anti-Apple people think those who buy Apple's products are one or more of: (a) deluded, (b)effete, (c) sheep, (d) gay.
The iPhone4 has an antenna design issue which affected a very small percentage of buyers (~1%).
The iPhone is still only available in the US with an AT&T contract.
Apple makes it tough to do anything with the iPhone except what they want you to do.
Apple's iPhone has a feature set that differs somewhat from other smartphones, and some people like other smartphones better.

None of these topics have squat to do with the introduction of the iPhone into China, nor with Apple's business strategy.

So I recommend that those wishing to discuss these -other- topics, find one of the dozens of other Apple threads in recent memory where their favorite Apple topic -was- discussed, and add to that discussion instead of cluttering this thread. Thank you.

A note regarding Apple threads as a "caucus" topic.

A few folks have suggested that the Apple threads might benefit from being "caucus" threads, in the same manner as (say) the religion threads. But I am not sure that would work out well. People genuinely interested in the Apple threads run the gamut of interests and beliefs, and enjoy civil, non-personal arguments about the pros and cons of the products.

However, the anti-Apple disruptors who join the Apple threads to piss on everyone else's cornflakes DO have but a single interest (disruption) and belief (that Apple sucks).

Therefore I humbly and respectfully suggest that the anti-Apple disruptors start an "I HATE APPLE" caucus, and have their anti-Apple threads over there, where they won't be troubled by pro-Apple comments. I am completely sincere in my belief that everyone, pro-Apple and anit-Apple, would be happier as a result of such an action.

So if you don't like Apple or Apple products, I suggest you post a caucus thread to that effect, and discuss all the ways that you don't like Apple and Apple products with other like-minded folks.

Thank you. Now about that business strategy in the China market...

With Sprint I can choose between Samsung Epic, and HTC
Evo; both 4G capable.

Any comments to help me?

I need address book, email push, internet connectivity, occasional test, and Nav would be useful.

My 2005 model year car probably has 2004 maps, which I cannot justify updating at a cost of $200.

The other day we were in an area with newer properties, and used my brother-in-laws iPhone nav to find locations not shown on my car system.

Pretty cool.

> I just purchased an iPhone 4 last Friday, and going to sell my Phone 3 GS. Love it, and I can see why it’s in high demand.

I've got an iPod Touch which works well; I'll consider trading it in on an iPhone if/when Apple climbs into bed with Verizon; unfortunately AT&T doesn't cover where I live or work.

Also I want to see how they resolve the antenna issue in the US phones; it only affected a small number of users but made a big splash so they have to close it off with something substantive.

Meanwhile I've got an LG 5500 stupidphone with Verizon that works just fine. :)

I wonder if the iPhones sold in China differ (other than carrier) from iPhones sold in the US?

From everything I’ve read, people generally find the evo a superior phone. Though it has superior specs, there’s just not that much difference and many are wary of samsungs track record of supporting their phones update-wise. The only exception is for people who need a physical keyboard, the evo isn’t better enough to justify not having one (although swype really is very good on the evo).

Personally, I picked up a palm pre for $100 off craigslist. Great calendar, webOS is a pleasure to work with, very active homebrew community at PreCentral (preware FTW!), and I’m all set if a new Win7 phone come out or HTC releases a EvoPro with keyboard.

If you’re really on the fence, go ahead and try them out one at a time. Sprint’s exchange policy is pretty painless: http://www.sprint.com/landings/returns/

Samsung Epic is what you want. That's what Sprint calls the 'Galaxy S'. That's the one with the Super AMOLED screen that blows everything else away, has the wireless hub for five more Internet connections, supports 4G where available, 1280 x 720 HD video recording, a pretty darn good still camera, and doubles as an in-car GPS Nav. It's also fairly light for it's size.

The HTC Evo has very good 'second place' features compared to the Samsung, but it hasn't got enough battery life to get through the day without charging it up at least once.

Right now, the Samsung Epic (Galaxy S) beats the latest top end 4G iPhone in reliability, features, ingenuity, and price. With the coming upgrade to the embedded OS (2.2 'Froyo') that will be push-downloaded to all Android phones in the next 30 days or so there will be even more features and much faster UI operations.

That is still somewhat going on here - at least through AT&T... Order online, and the last estimate I got was ships in 5-7 business days. If you try to pick one up locally, we don’t have an Apple store - so you had better get there when the doors open/UPS delivers the daily supply - which can vary from 4-9 phones at our local store (corporate store, not a kiosk/independent). A few weeks ago when I bought mine, I got the last one of 9 they received that day - and it was before noon.

Despite the over-inflated “bad press” given to the iPhone 4 - it has blown the doors off all expectations. Apple is in the perfect supply/demand position. No big inventories - and units shipping as they come in. What’s great for Apple - if demand slows, they are in a position to slow production and not end up with warehouses full.

Anyone seen a total unit sales figure for the iPhone 4?

I would particularly be interested in seeing similar numbers for the much-vaunted Samsung Facsinate and Captivate... I know a couple of people who opted for these two (one a Verizon the other AT&T) over the iPhone 4...

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