A suprisingly small number of Apple fans lined up outside the Apple store in Shanghai on July 20 for the release of the new iPad. (Photo/Xinhua)
The release of Apple's new iPad has received a lukewarm reception in China, raising speculation that the dominance of the global consumer electronics giant could be fading, reports the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.
Apple's third-generation iPad was finally released in China on July 20, four months after it had debuted abroad. Part of the delay was due to a lengthy legal battle between Apple and Taiwan-based LCD manufacturer Proview over ownership of the "iPad" trademark in China, which was settled earlier this month for US$60 million.
Despite the highly publicized launch, less than two dozen customers were seen lining up outside Apple's main Beijing store moments before the 8am opening time, a stark contrast to the hundreds who camped out for the release of the iPhone 4S in January. Apple staff were also spotted removing the barriers intended to organize the large crowds that never appeared.
A similar scene was also reported across Apple stores in Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the number of reporters outnumbered the customers.
An Apple spokesperson attributed the poor showing to the company's new sales strategy, which it said was focused on pre-sale orders. From July 19, customers have been able to place their orders on Apple's official website between 9am and 12pm, after which they would receive an email with a specified pick-up time, negating the need to line up, the spokesperson explained.
One Apple store shopper told the First Financial Daily that the new iPad no longer felt fresh because it had been released overseas for too long, and true fans would have already found other channels to acquire the device. More importantly, the new iPad is not perceived as particularly advantageous over the iPad 2 in terms of price or functionality, the shopper added.
The 3,688 yuan (US$577) price tag has been identified as another factor. For months, parallel importers have reportedly been selling the new iPad in China for around 3,200 yuan (US$500). The iPad 2, which has fallen to 2,500 yuan (US$390), may also be more attractive for price-sensitive customers.
Industry analysts suggest the reason could be more fundamental, in the sense that recent Apple products — beginning with the iPhone 4S — have lacked the revolutionary features that made Apple so popular in the first place. While Apple has not stopped developing new features, it appears the company has reached a bottleneck in its innovation, analysts said.
China's iiMedia Research CEO Zhang Yi thinks the iPad market has reached a level of saturation. People who have not purchased the first iPad or iPad 2 are unlikely to start buying iPads now, he said.
In recent months, the market has also become flooded with tablets from competitors such as Samsung, whose products arguably offer the same functionality as the iPad. Industry giants such as Microsoft and Google have also recently brought out their own versions of tablet computers.
Wang Yuquan, president of the China division of American market research firm Frost & Sullivan, believes the absence of the late company founder Steve Jobs is a significant factor in Apple's declining dominance. Current CEO Tim Cook is more like a professional manager who is concerned about achieving balance as opposed to breakthroughs in innovation, Wang said.
Zhang told the First Financial Daily that Apple should have enough market power to hold off competitors for the next three years, although all bets are off by 2015, when the number of tablets is expected to exceed that of traditional laptops.
0 comments:
Post a Comment