According to a report in PC World, only 5 Apple iPhone’s were sold on the official website in China in the first 2 weeks of availability. The store, Taobao.com, the biggest Chinese e-commerce Web site and is similar to eBay in how it handles transactions, has sold just two 8GB iPhones and three 16GB iPhones, according to figures from the site. Although China Unicom also sells the device directly from their site (ala AT&T here in the states), Taobao is China’s top online retail site and many users turn to it to buy items like mobile phones and laptops.
Issues that could cause such a low take rate?
- The 32GB iPhone 3GS with no service contract costs 6,999 yuan (US$1,024) in China, compared to about US$800 in nearby Hong Kong.
- iPhones bought outside China have Wi-Fi, which was removed from the China Unicom iPhones to comply with local regulations.
- Difficulty using the App Store
Sounds like they need a new marketing strategy to me. What do you guys think?
Source- PCWorld.com via cultofmac.com