Apple Offers China Premium-Priced Refurbished Products
7:51 am, February 23rd, 2009, Ed Sutherland
Apple has begun offering China refurbished iPods and iMacs, but at prices higher than U.S. retail prices, according to reports Monday.
In one example, a 2.8 GHz iMac discounted by 12 percent to $2,059 is still priced higher than the U.S. pre-sales tax $1,799.
While only 0.25 percent of the huge China market, the Asian giant helped Apple increase third-quarter sales by 49 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Apple’s slim market share in China is due to its high prices. Research firm IDC called China a “niche market” for Apple.
Apple opened its first retail outlet in China last year.
In related news, electronics retailer Best Buy launched a discount of up to $100 for ‘Reward Zone’ members. The discount, available through February 28, reduces the $199 8GB iPhone and 16GB iPhone version to $99 and $199, respectively. Regular Reward Zone members would receive a $50 discount on the handsets regularly priced at $199 and $249.
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | Comment on this article
You say “While only 0.25 percent of the huge China market, the Asian giant helped Apple increase third-quarter sales by 49 percent . . . . ” But the article you cite clearly states that “Apple’s recent push in China enabled it to grow its unit sales in the country by 49% in the third quarter from a year earlier . . . .” In other words, the growth of 49% refers only to Apple’s sales growth in China, not, as it appears to read, that Apple’s share of the Chinese market increased Apple’s total sales by 49%, presumably because China is so “huge.” That would be a neat trick with just one store in China. Busy store. Such large jumps are not unusual with extremely low market share, such as 0.25%, and in fact growth is slower than Apple would like.
David Langford, on February 24th, 2009 at 12:46 am