Apple iPhone’s China debut right around the corner?
Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 07:42 PM EST"Over the last few weeks Apple has been signing international iPhone distribution deals at an astounding pace. Why so much urgency? Sure, they want the 3G iPhone to become a major global player, but the urgency has everything to do with their home court advantage; aka, the low dollar," Jason Schwarz writes for SeekingAlpha.
"Even Apple has taken notice that the low dollar might be on its way out and they realize that it's time to seize the moment. Let's take a look at the grandaddy of them all, India. Vodafone and Bharti Airtel will reportedly market the new handset through a staggering 250,000 retail outlets, including franchisee-owned shops. Compare this rollout with the meager 7,000 Apple and AT&T stores in the US," Schwarz writes.
"On top of this staggering 250,000 number, consider the profit effect of the low dollar; iPhones will be priced at 23,000 Rs or about $545 each. The US retail price is $399. The raucous [NBA] fans in Boston, Utah, New Orleans or San Antonio can't touch that kind of home court advantage," Schwarz writes.
iPhone China could be right around the corner
"Apple's newest board member, Avon CEO Andrea Jung, was responsible for Avon's direct sales program launch in China," Schwarz writes.
"China Mobile maintains a subscriber base of 375 million -- more than the population of the United States and by far the largest in the world. They already provide service to 400,000 iPhones that have been unlocked and smuggled into China," Schwarz writes. "It should be no surprise that Andrea Jung was the only board member not in attendance at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in March. I'll bet I can guess where she was."
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "brandon" for the heads up.]
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An American company selling Chinese assembled products to Chinese customers.
That should offset a few of those lost American assembly jobs.
American labor should think twice about pricing themselves out of more sectors of the economy.