Contentinople - Erin Barker - News Bits: Will the iPhone Flop in China?

Written by Erin Barker

Friday, October 30. 2009 at 10:45 AM EDT 1 comment

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Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iPhone debuts in China today, but according to reports, enthusiasm among Chinese consumers is tepid.

The reason for the lack of excitement? The high price of China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU)'s iPhone -- 6,999 yuan, or US$1,024 (without a service plan) -- The Wall Street Journal says. The average smartphone in China costs $350.

Of course, there are already 2 million iPhones in use in China, but these are devices that have been purchased overseas and shipped in for resale on the "gray market." Unlike China Unicom's iPhone, these devices have low prices and WiFi functions.

"Given the high prices of China Unicom's iPhone, I'm afraid the smuggled ones might still be very popular," Fang Meiqin, an analyst of BDA China Ltd. , told WSJ.

This problem is complicated by China Unicom's lackluster advertising strategy, which, according to WSJ, consisted of a plain-text announcement in Chinese newspapers, resembling "the type of official government notice that many Chinese readers usually ignore."

In other news:

The Foo Fighters will be streaming a concert live on Facebook tonight at 7 p.m. PST, from their headquarters in LA. The live video will be powered by LiveStream.

Live concert streams are becoming popular for sites ranging from MySpace to Hulu, likely because they attract swarms of fans and their live nature precludes piracy issues. Yesterday YouTube announced it had set a personal record for its live streaming of a U2 concert on Sunday, with 10 million streams.

ABC is partnering with Apple's iTunes to promote the second season of Sam Raimi's fantasy series, Legend of the Seeker. Starting today, participating movie theaters will hand out 1 million collectible "3D Seeker cards." The code printed on the cards can be redeemed on iTunes to download the season premiere for free, ahead of its air date on Nov. 7.

Tags: ABC, Advertising, Apple, Business, China, iPhone, iTunes, Product Launch, Streaming Video

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iPhone in China
dcilea
Rank: Pasha
Friday October 30, 2009 12:23:16 PM

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If only a fraction of China's billion-plus population embraces the Apple iPhone, it will still be considered a huge success. Even with a lackluster advertisng launch campaign and expensive price point.

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