Apple made a huge leap to try to convince China, the world’s largest smartphone market, by introducing its low-cost iPhone 5C.
However, even though the introductory price in China is $700 -- way greater than the introductory price in the U.S. which is just $100 -- Apple’s plan to conquer the China market will still succeed. Apple’s success in China depends on closing a deal with China’s largest cellphone carrier, China Mobile and not on their sales of smartphone.
On Wednesday, Apple advanced in its partnership with China Mobile when the Chinese government affirmed that Apple’s iPhones could be equipped with China Mobile’s latest cell network, basically making way for the two companies’ deal, the N.Y Times report.
The said deal would give Apple easy access to China Mobile’s 700 million subscribers with just a little bend on its phones’ costs. For years now, China Mobile has been holding out for deals as it was demanding for better terms with the tech giant.
Though Apple is known for crafting high-end smartphones, they took on a different path just to persuade the Chinese market. For the first time ever, Apple created a low-cost iPhone and launched it together with its latest high-end model iPhone 5S which they released simultaneously in the U.S on Tuesday.
The smartphone market in China is rapidly growing, even beating the U.S market. last year. Conversely, Chinese consumers opt for cheap Android smartphones from ZTE, Huawei and Xiaomi with a price as low as $100, placing Apple on the sixth spot in their market.
Apple will start selling the iPhone 5S and 5C on Sept. 20 in China through China Unicom and China Telecom, which have about 400 million subscribers when combined.
Apple posted on its website that the low-cost iPhone 5C, would cost at $733 or 4,488 renminbi while the high-end iPhone 5S will cost $864 or 5288 renminbi both without subsidies from mobile operators.
