苹果在中国市场很火了？还不够……

苹果(Apple)不久前公布最新一季财报，当季营收表现正常但成长趋缓，不过分析师的评语却是着重于该公司在中国市场令人惊艳的亮眼成绩──《金融时报(Financial Times)》一篇报导就指出，苹果已经变成“中国故事”。 在最新财报发表会上，苹果首席执行官库克(Tim Cook)也形容，该公司本季在大中华市场整体表现出色。在截止于6月28日的2014年第二季，苹果在大中华区(包括中国大陆、香港与台湾)市场的净销 售额达59.4亿美元，较去年同期成长28%。在其10-K年报中，苹果形容该公司在大中华市场的年度成长率“明显高出公司以往整体表现”。 此外苹果指出，iPhone在大中华区市场的净销售额与销售量“特别强劲”，拜2013年底最新款 iPhone 于大中华区市场开卖之赐，对入门等级价格的iPhone需求量大增，还有中国移动在 2014年第二季开始加入销售iPhone行列。 苹果当季在中国市场的iPhone销售量成长了48%，Mac计算机销售量成长39%，iPad销售量则成长51%；其中iPad在中国市场的销售成长特别值 得注意，因为根据市场研究机构IDC的最新统计数据，整体中国平板设备市场同时间的成长率为21%。而库克也表示，苹果中国市场整体营收，包含零售商店业绩，成长了31%。 苹果与三星在中国市场命运大不同 库克在财报发布会上表示，苹果认为接下来几个月──特别是在与中国移动结盟之后──对该公司的中国市场业务来说，是一个“分水岭”。相较于三星(Samsung)，该公司稍早前公布的第二季财报显示，其营业利润下滑至两年来的新低点。 三星将该公司营业利润连四季下滑的原因，归咎于韩元兑美元与欧元的汇率升值，此外也坦承其中、低阶智能手机在中国与部分欧洲市场的销售业绩表现衰弱，主要是因为竞争激烈与需求趋缓。 不 过根据市场研究机构Counterpoint的统计数据，三星在2014年第一季仍在中国智能手机市场占据18%的比例，是当地市场第一大品牌；同时间 苹果在中国智能手机市场的占有率为10%、排名第五，其余前五大中国智能手机品牌都是中国本土厂商，包括联想(Lenovo)、小米(Xiaomi) 与酷派(Coolpad)。

中国智能手机市场各品牌市占率
Source：Counterpoint0PVesmc

从 某个方面看，三星似乎成为众家中国本土智能手机业者的箭靶，但在另一方面苹果仍有很大的成长空间。毕竟，拥有不同价位智能手机产品的三星，很容易被卷 进中国本土同业的残酷价格竞争中，最后不得不全面备战；而苹果则是到目前为止一直因为坚持产品价格高于竞争对手的策略，而能远离战争烟硝味。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：富裕的中国消费者都非常注重品牌

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• 苹果“去三星化”发酵，备胎台积电受益接大单0PVesmc

{pagination} 品牌亲和力 于是问题可以归纳如下：对那些负担得起高阶智能手机的中国消费者来说，花多少钱是值得的？或者这是否意味着他们想要拥有一支货真价实的苹果iPhone？作为一个品牌，苹果在中国仍然有相当高的声望，而且别忘了，富裕的中国消费者都非常注重品牌。 还 有一个问题是，有些中国本土品牌总被认为是“抄袭”苹果。其中小米是一家非常坚持打造自有品牌的中国手机业者，该公司已经拉拢了一群死忠粉丝(米粉)，并 以低价提供高阶规格产品自豪；小米最新发表的旗舰机“米四”，外观与苹果的金属质感iPhone 5s非常相似，价格仅1,999元人民币(约322美元)，还不到它美国竞争对手产品价格的一半。

小米最新发表的旗舰智能手机米四
Source：小米官网0PVesmc

苹果是否能维持在中国市场的成功难以保证，但该公司仍相信还可以有更好的表现；苹果表示，该公司与中国移动的合作协议在今年初谈妥，正式开始也才几个星期。 库克在财报发布会上亦指出，与中国移动搭档销售才一周左右，该公司就已经在中国市场取得前所未有的好成绩，这是一个让人感到不可思议的起步。 “目前我们跟中国移动仅在16个中国城市搭档销售，到今年底将扩增至300个以上的城市；”库克表示：“因此我们在未来仍有大幅成长空间，也感到无比兴奋，特别是在上一季我们于中国市场达到创新纪录的销售表现之后。” 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Apple in China: Best Is Yet to Come?，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Apple in China: Best Is Yet to Come? Junko Yoshida MADISON, Wis. — After Apple’s latest quarterly announcement Tuesday, which showed reasonable but slow-growing results, the second-day spin on Apple's financial results is all about Apple’s surprisingly strong showing in China. As the Financial Times (subscription required) put it, “Apple has become a China story.” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, during the earnings’ call described the company’s latest quarter “a stellar quarter in greater China overall.” In the latest quarter ended June 28, 2014, Apple’s net sales in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, expanded to $5.94 billion, up by 28 percent compared to the same period a year ago. In its 10-K filing, Apple characterized its year-over-year increase in Greater China as “significantly higher than those experienced by the Company overall.” Apple pointed out that growth in net sales and unit sales of the iPhone was “especially strong” in the greater China region, thanks to the successful launch of new iPhones in Greater China at the end of 2013, increased demand for Apple’s entry-priced iPhones, and the addition of China Mobile in the second quarter of 2014. Chinese iPhone sales were up 48 percent, Mac sales were up 39 percent, and iPad sales were up a whopping 51%. The iPad growth in China is noteworthy, especially when compared to the industry’s overall tablet market in China, which is said to be growing at 21 percent, according to IDC. According to Cook, Apple grew its overall revenues in China, including its retail stories, at 31 percent. Apple vs. Samsung in China Cook, during the call, described Apple’s business prospect in China in coming months -- especially through its partnership with China mobile -- as “a watershed moment.” Now compare that statement to Samsung, which disclosed earlier this month that its second-quarter operating profit dropped to a two-year low. While blaming its fourth straight quarter of profit decline on the South Korean currency's appreciation against the US dollar and the euro, Samsung also acknowledged that sales of its midrange and low-end smartphones were weak in China and some European countries, due to stiff competition and slow demand. Make no mistake. Samsung continues to lead the Chinese smartphone market with 18 percent market share in the first quarter of 2014, according to Counterpoint, a market research firm. In contrast, Apple, with a 10 percent market share, is still trailing behind Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Coolpad, all of which are China’s strong, local smartphone brands. (Source: Counterpoint) One way to look at it, though, is that it’s Samsung that’s taking all the heat from the Chinese local smartphone vendors. Apple, on the other hand, appears to have still lots of room to grow. After all, Samsung -- armed with a broad range of smartphones at various price points -- appears to have been sucked into the brutal price competition with China’s local smartphone vendors, thus ending up having to fight the battle on all fronts. Meanwhile, Apple, thus far, has managed to stay above the fray by sticking to a higher price tag for its products than for those of its rivals. Brand affinity The question, then, comes down to the following: For Chinese consumers who can afford the high-end smartphones, how much would it be worth, or would it mean, to own genuine Apple iPhones? Apple, as a brand, still commands a high respect in China. And, let’s not forget, affluent Chinese consumers are very brand-conscious. But here’s the thing: Chinese local brands are also taking a page from Apple’s playbook. Xiaomi, in particular, is intent on building its own brand, and has become quite successful in building a cult-like community full of die-hard Xiaomi fans. Xiaomi is no knock-off iPhone vendor. The company has taken pride in offering its products with high-end specifications at low prices. Xiaomi’s latest flagship smartphone, the Mi4, unveiled earlier this week, looks much like Apple’s similarly metallic iPhone 5s. The Mi4, however, is priced at 1,999 yuan (US$322) -- less than half of the US rival’s handset. Xiaomi mi4, priced at 1,999 yuan, features a 5-inch 1080p screen, 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB/64GB of internal storage, 13MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP selfie camera, LTE radio, 802.11ac WiFi, plus a 3,080mAh battery. (Source: Xiaomi) Although Apple's continued success in China is by no means guaranteed, Apple remains confident that the best is yet to come. The company noted that its agreement with China Mobile -- reached in January this year -- has been only activated for the last couple of weeks. Cook said during the call: We’ve been selling with China Mobile now for about a week, and last week was the best week for activations we’ve ever had in China. So it’s been an incredible start, and at this moment, we’re just selling in 16 cities with China Mobile, and this number is projected to be over 300 cities by the end of this year. And so we’ve got quite the ramp in front of us, and we’re incredibly excited. This comes after a new high water mark in China for us last quarter.