China Herald: Apple treats Chinese as second-class citizens

Chinese customers have to wait to get an official official release on Apple´s new iPhone, while China is Apple´s second largest market. "Apple can not longer treat Chinese as second-hand citizens," says business analyst Shaun Rein in Nikkei.

Nikkei:

"It really doesn't make sense that Apple continues to treat the Chinese consumer as a second-class citizen," said Shaun Rein, founder of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group and author of the forthcoming book, "The End of Copycat China," about Chinese innovation. "Because of better Google Android platforms, and rising cheaper domestic brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei or Lenovo, Apple can't afford to treat Chinese consumers, I think, with what looks like disdain and contempt."

The other disadvantage is that iPhones cannot accommodate dual subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, which can be a major handicap in markets such as India and China, where consumers are sensitive to pricing on data plans. Migrant workers, particularly in China, appreciate having two SIM cards in their phones -- one for incoming calls that they keep, and one for outgoing calls, which they change depending on where their jobs take them.

More in Nikkei.

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