AAPL 2Q earnings beat. Even poor people want apples ?

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dr.kevin

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Everyone and their moms want apple?

It costs 2x monthly salary in china to afford one apple goody.
If those guys want an ipad or iphone to go with, it will be 4x, and a malnourishing purely rice diet for the next 8 months.

Those crazy chinese people.
You think they're crazy?
 
Meh. Same can be said about any other "high demand" item. People buy random crap they can't afford just to say they have it.

Not just the Chinese.
 
OP hates both China and Apple, and is all butthurt over today's news report that Apple is selling 12 million iPhones and 4 million iPads per month, with much of these sales going to Chinese consumers.
 
A triumph of marketing in every possible sense. No other company has a hope in hell of sales like this without Apples brand image. The product doesn't matter.
 
Sly said:
If you were earning $300.00 a month. Where would you spend it on?
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I did that for a year. It mostly went on food, although a good portion went to local plane tickets and souvenirs.


refraxion said:
Meh. Same can be said about any other "high demand" item. People buy random crap they can't afford just to say they have it.

Not just the Chinese.
Click to expand...

Partly, I also think it has to do with the iPhone/iPad becoming the one/only computing device for a lot of people. The same people that make $300 a month can't buy a computer, but in a stretch they can buy a phone that keeps them connected. It gives them e-mail, web surfing, chatting, news, texting, etc. It may not be the best at all of those things, but it can do them competently and also can be carried everywhere. In a country like China or most South-East Asia, the portability is key. Laptops will always be more important than desktops, and if you can't buy one of those and a phone, then of course the phone will have to do both.


MrCrispy said:
A triumph of marketing in every possible sense. No other company has a hope in hell of sales like this without Apples brand image. The product doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

That is a very ignorant perspective about what Apple has accomplished over the last decade. 15 years ago, Apple was going bankrupt, they couldn't sell a thing to save themselves. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, people want to simply pass it off with an easy "explain away" explanation.

Brand image is only a piece of the equation. Does marketing matter? Absolutely. Marketing is defined by the AMA as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." Therefore the point is that Apple has created products for the consumer that meet a desire, need, or value that no other manufacturer has done.

Intel has spent 100's of millions trying to develop the ultra-portable market, something that Apple dominates with the Air. Google (through various companies that use Android) and Blackberry have feverishly tried to built tablets that work as easily, intuitively, and efficiently as the iPad, but all have failed. Not just from a design and quality standpoint, but also from an integration standpoint. Apple's delivery streams for content aren't matched by anyone and that is why they are successful.

When the first iPod came out over 10 years ago, people wondered why a computer manufacture was building a music player. This strategy allowed them to slowly and methodically get into the music distribution business. Similarly when the iPhone came out in 2007 it raised more questions from investors than virtually anything ever produced from Apple or anyone. But it wasn't a gamble, it was strategically planned move from Steve Jobs understanding that people wanted to carry one device all the time that connected them with everything. Apple was not only successful with the phone, but they were successful in delivery that "connectivity" those steams that constantly connect them to everyone, with an interface that just works.

If you never want to buy an Apple product, fine. You have the freedom to pick the alternative. You like Lambo's over Ferrari's, sure, we all have preferences. However to make broad sweeping statements and say that all of this just lands in Apple's lap because of brand image is ridiculous.

In 5 short years, Blackberry's brand image has been stripped by rivals, namely Apple and Google's Android. The same could be said of Palm. Or any number of other manufactures. If you don't produce a product that is quality, that people want, it doesn't matter who you are. You will get left behind, and there are people in the market that are more than willing to do everything they can to devour your market share. The exact same thing can be said of Apple. Their business lies solely on the fact that they are ahead of the curve. Android and PC guys always want to compare specs, but they never compare the user experience (with the exception of, "I hate iTunes" and "I like that I can do anything in the Android eco-system but I can't on the iPhone because Apple is a bunch of Nazi's.") I'm hoping that will change with Windows 8, because I think Microsoft/Nokia finally get that it isn't about creating a spec war, it's about creating an experience that makes sense to the end user.

Bottom line, people buy iPhones and iPads because they integrate into their lives better than any other product, and they offer an experience and solution that no other manufactures has. When that changes, the numbers will change.
 
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dr.kevin said:
Everyone and their moms want apple?

It costs 2x monthly salary in china to afford one apple goody.
If those guys want an ipad or iphone to go with, it will be 4x, and a malnourishing purely rice diet for the next 8 months.

Those crazy chinese people.
You think they're crazy?
Click to expand...

Not everyone in China is poor. As China's economy grows so does the wealth of their citizens.


China is #3 in millionaires and there are lots of companies marketing high end products towards China. Their middle class is also about the size of the US population.

http://www.bornrich.com/top-13-luxury-brands-year-dragon-editions-wealthy-chinese.html

http://www.insideline.com/ferrari/4...agon-treatment-to-lure-chinese-customers.html

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/27/rolls-royce-sells-out-of-million-dollar-year-of-the-dragon-editi/

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/24/mercedes-benz-opens-worlds-first-amg-only-dealership-in-beijing/
 
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MrCrispy said:
A triumph of marketing in every possible sense. No other company has a hope in hell of sales like this without Apples brand image. The product doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

Like hell it doesn't. People overstate the impact of marketing. There is nothing at all special about Apple's marketing.
 
This thread isn't going to end well. Nipping this one in the bud.
 
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