Steve Jobs is too US-centric – Shaun Rein

Apple was able to cause some queues when their iPad hit its two stores in China, but according to Shaun Rein Steve Jobs is still too much focused on America, ignoring lucrative markets elsewhere, he tells the Mercury News.

“Apple has great products the whole world wants,” said Rein, of China Market Research. “But Steve Jobs looks at America too much. The company is too Ameri-centric. This is a complaint you hear throughout the world.” 

For now, though, Chinese consumers are riveted with Apple’s splashy presence in Beijing and Shanghai.

The average Chinese consumer might not have as much money to spend as the US baby boomers, but because they spend their income differently, they can still afford the expensive Apple products, Rein argues:

It’s not uncommon for Chinese to spend two months’ salary — or more — on an iPhone, which costs about $750 for a 16 gigabyte model without a China Unicom contract, though the relative scarcity of the devices has driven the price up among scalpers and resellers. Consumers can also get a 16GB iPhone 4 with a two-year contract that costs about $880. Some Chinese don’t even use the device as a phone because it’s too expensive for them to make calls; instead, it’s used to send text messages, said Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. 

“They use the iPhone as a status symbol to show their sophistication in the world, even though they can’t afford it,” he said.

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Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau and one of our specialists on marketing.

Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.