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APPLE IS EXPECTED to announce that it has sold more iPhones in China than the US during 2014.
Increased availability, thanks to a deal with China’s biggest telecom provider, and strong sales of the iPhone 6 allowed it to reach this turning point, according to the Financial Times.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he expected China to overtake the US as Apple’s single largest source of revenue back in 2013. At the end of that year, Apple struck a deal with China Mobile to bring its collection of iPhones to the market.
Before then, it had relied on smaller carriers to sell iPhones, but striking a deal with a carrier that has an estimated 760 million subscribers and deal with increased competition from lower-cost Android devices.
While the iPhone has performed well in China, the market is still dominated by lower-priced devices.
Chinese company Xiaomi is the biggest company there, having sold 61.1 million handsets and bringing in a total of €10.1 billion in revenue in 2014. The company has been accused of copying Apple in the design of its smartphones and tablets, and Apple’s chief designer Jony Ive calling the similarities “theft” and “lazy”.
Apple’s biggest rival, Samsung, had a less than perfect 2014 as its profits stumbled. It decided to cut the number of devices it makes by up to a third, focusing more on quality.
Apple will hold its earnings call for the latest quarter tomorrow.
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What fee? I’ve never paid and I’ve used it for a few years.
It was free for the first few years but then they added the charge for new users so anyone who got it before the fee was introduced didn’t have to pay it
Ah. Thanks for that.
Yeah they were always extending my free period. I’ve been using them for quite a few years
They would ask some people for a euro after first year but if you didn’t pay I don’t think they cut you off. People were worth more to them as an active user
With so many free messaging sites why on earth would they expect you to pay anything!
Sounds like someone’s boardroom idea just went up in smoke
Because of all the other free messaging sites on earth, the one you’re using is only any good if all or most of your contacts are also using it. Otherwise you’re on your own.
Fairly simple. Tell your friends to download it. Can’t see anyone saying no. Whats another app on your phone.
I’d say they would all be downloading another chat app fairly sharpish once the current one was going to start charging you
Like others have said above, I was originally warned that I’d be paying after the first year, but never actually got charged. But I don’t think it was ever actually about charging for the service.
What it did was it created a potential revenue stream, which customers had acknowledged, thereby proving revenue potential and increasing the value of the company in terms of price:revenue
A persistently waived fee is actually quite smart in this regard.
Nice Ronan I like it.
It woulda been a euro a year ya tight fisted get!
“will instead focus on connecting businesses with users.” sounds like intrusive advertising in my book. Looks like telegram will be taking over then.
WeChat does exactly this in China. I’ve always wondered why no one does that here. I don’t want to download apps for each and every company I might ever use, only to use 99% of them only once a year or less.
I never paid a fee either, didn’t even know it was a paid app!
How’ya lunchbox?
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