Xi Guohua will not have to join any queues to get his iPhone. The China Mobile chairman was given one by Apple chief Tim Cook. Friday sees the launch of the iPhone on the Chinese network, with its mind-boggling 750m subscriber base. But the iPhone’s moment in the world’s biggest market comes just as the local competition is gearing up. If, as Apple’s (and Samsung’s) margins suggest, even high-end smartphones are becoming less profitable, what are the likes of Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi thinking?
奚國華用不著排隊就得到了一臺iPhone。這位中國移動(China Mobile)董事長剛得到蘋果(Apple)執行長蒂姆•庫克(Tim Cook)送的一部iPhone。本週五，中國移動版iPhone正式發售，而該公司用戶總數是驚人的7.5億。不過，iPhone在世界最大的市場迎來激動人心的時刻之際，正是本土競爭加劇之時。如果連高階智慧型手機的利潤率都會下降的話——就像蘋果和三星(Samsung)的利潤率所體現的那樣，那麼像華為(Huawei)、聯想(Lenovo)和小米(Xiaomi)這樣的生產商，又該作何感想呢？