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Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

businessinsider.com

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Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#11

Post by kamjam »

solvemenow wrote: post #6

Maybe its a marketing thing. I remember the same thing used to happen with white iPhones. They would run out way faster than the black ones.

I would really be surprised if they underestimated the demand, Asia is known for loving gold. I would bet more likely it is a marketing thing, the news that they have all sold out pushes up demand even further and also hits all the headlines. How many people are going around now saying "I have one of the new gold iPhones" to all their friends and colleagues.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#12

Post by melange »

twistedpair wrote: post #3

Nailed it. I knew this was yet another Asian play by Apple. The iPhone is getting long in the tooth in Western markets, but there are still many virgin markets in the East.

Funny how a long in the tooth phone has taken more than 1% of the US market in 2 days and is the fastest selling phone in history by a huge margin:

https://mobile.twitter.com/asymco/status/382147503644098561

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#14

Post by [deleted] »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #5
twistedpair wrote: post #3

Nailed it. I knew this was yet another Asian play by Apple. The iPhone is getting long in the tooth in Western markets, but there are still many virgin markets in the East.

Really? Because like every other person has an iPhone here in Beijing. I saw a gold one on a flight last night from Singapore, I think this is purely a Chinese thing; weird that they said Asian and not Chinese.

[deleted]

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#15

Post by lnanek2 »

mikeash wrote: post #13

The pervasive casual racism when discussing the gold iPhone is just astounding. If news outlets were talking about black people this way, there would be riots in the streets. Why is this considered acceptable?

What exactly is racist about saying one product type appeals to a certain set of cultures more than others? It is well known the Korean culture values extra settings and controls as a sign of status, for example, and that Koreans value replaceable batteries more and carry them around more often. Is it racist to say replaceable battery phones sell better in Korea than elsewhere? There are already OEMs that make different SKUs for exactly this reason, like LG.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#16

Post by josefresco »

Watched something on TV a while back on how ingrained gold is in the Indian culture. I don't have any links handy to back up my claims, but I think India accounts for a majority of the gold market worldwide.

Edit: Quickly searching I found this: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57376057/indias-love-a...

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#17

Post by simonh »

mikeash wrote: post #13

The pervasive casual racism when discussing the gold iPhone is just astounding. If news outlets were talking about black people this way, there would be riots in the streets. Why is this considered acceptable?

Oh, please grow up(1).

What specifically in this article are you calling out as casually racist? Was Mr. Lian, who is quoted as saying "Chinese people like Gold" being racist about his own race? My wife has said much the same thing to me. She's Chinese, though now a naturalised Brit.

(1) I apologies to my esteemed HNers for that, but it seems appropriate and if I take a karma hit for it, so be it. It was worth it.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#18

Post by jerf »

mikeash wrote: post #13

The pervasive casual racism when discussing the gold iPhone is just astounding. If news outlets were talking about black people this way, there would be riots in the streets. Why is this considered acceptable?

Are you speaking in general, or accusing this article in particular of having racism in it?

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#19

Post by ihsw »

It has little to do with the color gold and more to do with the social status.

Money spent on home appliance is minimal and an after-thought, and this is because you cannot impress people with your home appliances while you're out of your home. Meanwhile you can flash your Gold iPhone everywhere you go and it implicitly shows everybody around you that you can afford a Gold iPhone.

Social posturing is a central part of East Asian cultures and the Gold iPhone appeals directly to that mindset. There is no racism but instead it's just the reality of the situation -- hubris is ingrained and prevalent.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#20

Post by mikeash »

lnanek2 wrote: post #15
mikeash wrote: post #13

The pervasive casual racism when discussing the gold iPhone is just astounding. If news outlets were talking about black people this way, there would be riots in the streets. Why is this considered acceptable?

What exactly is racist about saying one product type appeals to a certain set of cultures more than others? It is well known the Korean culture values extra settings and controls as a sign of status, for example, and that Koreans value replaceable batteries more and carry them around more often. Is it racist to say replaceable battery phones sell better in Korea than elsewhere? There are already OEMs that make differ…

It's not racist if it's backed up by data.

So far I have seen no data whatsoever to back up this idea that Asian people prefer gold more than other people in the world.

Articles like these simply take a racial stereotype and run with it to the conclusion they want to reach. That's racist.

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