综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
Business
Home / Business / Technology

Early China iPhone launch squeezes smugglers

Agencies | Updated: 2013-09-11 10:28

Early China iPhone launch squeezes smugglers

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook talks about their new products during Apple Inc's media event in Cupertino, California September 10, 2013. [Photo/Agencies] 

HONG KONG- Apple Inc's millions of Chinese fans will celebrate the near-simultaneous launch of the latest iPhone in China and the United States, but one group will have little to cheer - the smugglers.

An early launch of Apple's latest smartphone in China is expected to stifle a thriving grey market worth billions of dollars a year built around smuggling from Hong Kong, where in the past the U.S. tech giant's gadgets have gone on sale months before they reach official channels in the mainland.

Smugglers also worry that once Apple and China Mobile Ltd sign a long-awaited deal it will snatch away more business with the carrier's heavily subsidised smartphones.

"Of course it will affect our business in some way. If people can buy it at the official stores soon, why will they still want to buy it here?" said Huang Kaidi, a shopkeeper in China's southern city of Shenzhen, who has been selling iPhones smuggled from Hong Kong since the phone debuted in 2007.

"But price is still our advantage. Our price will still be cheaper and consumers are always looking for cheaper ones," said Huang, one of the hundreds of shop owners squeezed in the dimly lit, smoke-filled electronics marketplace.

The unveiling of Apple's latest phone this week comes as the company is grappling with falling sales in China, its second-largest market, due to the narrowing technology gap with cheaper Chinese rivals and as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd keeps up a steady stream of new models across all price ranges.

When the iPhone 5 was launched last September, it only got the green light for sales at Apple stores and authorised resellers in December, giving smugglers an advantage of several months to lure die-hard fans.

A weak Hong Kong dollar and virtual tax-free regime also helped create a lucrative arbitrage opportunity.

Roughly 70 percent of iPhones and iPads sold in Hong Kong, or $4-5 billion of Apple's annual sales of $6-8 billion in the Chinese territory, land up in the mainland via either the grey market or mainland tourists' purchases, according to analysts.

 

Early China iPhone launch squeezes smugglers

Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Apple Inc, talks about the pricing of their new products at Apple Inc's media event in Cupertino, California September 10, 2013. [Photo/Agencies] 

Previous 1 2 3 4 Next

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
察隅县| 新和县| 普格县| 怀仁县| 柞水县| 疏勒县| 巫溪县| 镇康县| 阿图什市| 望江县| 财经| 永顺县| 莱芜市| 玛纳斯县| 甘孜| 福海县| 灵寿县| 六枝特区| 香河县| 特克斯县| 通渭县| 凤翔县| 泸西县| 牙克石市| 滨州市| 上犹县| 玉屏| 安化县| 澄迈县| 淮安市| 宝坻区| 曲阜市| 温州市| 平邑县| 桂阳县| 错那县| 南汇区| 山丹县| 枝江市| 清镇市| 精河县|