Chinese Have To 'Win The Lottery" To Get An iPhone 5

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Having to "win a lottery" to get an iPhone 5 in China is pretty damn sad. The phones are made right there and they still have to go through a lottery process?? :(

“At Apple’s retail store, the iPhone 5 can be ordered online and a lottery process determines who is eligible for pickup at the store the next day,” White told AllThingsD after a visit to Hong Kong. “Based on our conversations, you might have a better shot at winning [an actual] lottery than getting the iPhone 5 the next day.”
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Steve said:
Having to "win a lottery" to get an iPhone 5 in China is pretty damn sad. The phones are made right there and they still have to go through a lottery process?? :(
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Ferrari's are made in Italy, and not every Italian is entitled to own one. What's your point, exactly?
 
Maybe us rich Americans are willing to pay a higher premium? :)

When I went to Maui I was so jonsing for some of that fresh tropical fruit, gotta be hella cheap because it grows there.... nope, more expensive than here, apparently it's grown for export to make money not for locals to consume (at least not without paying a premium).

Same goes for food grains here, we make more than enough for everyone in this country 5 times over, prices should be way cheaper, but nope lots of it gets exported, as a result we pay a premium for bread...

Not exactly a new thing.
 
Silver, I think you missed his point. Ferrari's are made in Italy but if an local Italian ordered one and had to be put in a lottery to see if he can actually pick it up at the dealership the next, then that would suck. Not much entitled to own but entitled to actually pick one up quicker than an america who lives thousands of miles away from you and the people who build them.

Steve, would this be solved by a simple answer like, billions of chinese so yea demand is higher?
 
Sounds reasonable to me, although I wonder how many Chinese really want one, and whether this story is just an advertising stunt.

I would have to see the figures.
 
Although, I would have thought that the supply system would operate on a first-come first-serve basis.
 
JoeUser said:
Ferrari's are hundreds of thousands of dollars...iPhone 5's aren't.

Wow...just wow...
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So what dollar amount do you propose that everything is entitled to free things? Everything under $500 is free? Under $1000?
 
Every country outside US got extremely limited numbers of iPhone 5. For examply my country with 5 million citizens got 200-300 iPhone 5's in the first batch - in total, for both big telecoms.
 
SilverSliver said:
Ferrari's are made in Italy, and not every Italian is entitled to own one. What's your point, exactly?
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If you lived in Italy and had to be put in a lottery to get something you PAID for while the rest of the world can just buy one...that's assed up.

XamediX said:
Silver, I think you missed his point. Ferrari's are made in Italy but if an local Italian ordered one and had to be put in a lottery to see if he can actually pick it up at the dealership the next, then that would suck.
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This.

Not sure why that is so hard to understand. :confused:
 
I think that with Ferrari, they manufacture a limited quantity (to keep them rare), to make people think that they are good, and you have to go into a waiting list (12 to 18 months), in order to get one.:(

Apple could take advantage of the low availability of the iPhone (due to strikes etc), to make Apple products look like Ferrari.:D
 
Since people criticise the iPhone for being more expensive than Android, (which it is if you look at actual platform cost, not just initial purchase price), I don't see why Apple doesn't go back to the days of $500-600 iPhones (carrier subsidized). Why not... seems like it would help Apple make more money, solve some of the demand/supply issues, and make their fans appreciate their devices that much more. I'm sure there's enough people out there dedicated to buying their shiny devices to keep them profitable.
 
SilverSliver said:
So what dollar amount do you propose that everything is entitled to free things? Everything under $500 is free? Under $1000?
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I think you are thinking in relation to some of those articles where the factory workers would never be able to afford the iphone they are producing.

this is about the business class working chinese ordering like we do in America but having a harder time picking up what they pay for even though it is made domestically. I can see it being skewed into an entitlement thing of "i want it now". But it's not the entitlement of wanting it for free or deserving it or whatever..they work and they buy it like normal commerce.
 
XamediX said:
Silver, I think you missed his point. Ferrari's are made in Italy but if an local Italian ordered one and had to be put in a lottery to see if he can actually pick it up at the dealership the next, then that would suck. Not much entitled to own but entitled to actually pick one up quicker than an america who lives thousands of miles away from you and the people who build them.

Steve, would this be solved by a simple answer like, billions of chinese so yea demand is higher?
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actually, I dont know what it is currently, but its normal to wait a year plus for a ferrari :rolleyes:
 
SilverSliver said:
Ferrari's are made in Italy, and not every Italian is entitled to own one. What's your point, exactly?
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true, but they are too expensive for everyone to own, and they are too expensive to make as well. not to mention it takes lot longer to make one specially few that are made only in limited numbers.

while iphone is not that expensive to make nor it is that hard to get. there are more than just few iphones and i'm pretty sure apple has stock pile them somewhere.
 
weebling1 said:
3 billion Chinese, slightly greater than supply :rolleyes:
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That's true but a tiny percentage of them can actually afford luxury items like - well, cell phones period. So I'd imagine that 3 billion who's after the iPhone 5 is now at a couple million, if that.
 
XamediX said:
Silver, I think you missed his point. Ferrari's are made in Italy but if an local Italian ordered one and had to be put in a lottery to see if he can actually pick it up at the dealership the next, then that would suck. Not much entitled to own but entitled to actually pick one up quicker than an america who lives thousands of miles away from you and the people who build them.

Steve, would this be solved by a simple answer like, billions of chinese so yea demand is higher?
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Supply and demand constraints are much greater than geographical constraints. It doesn't matter where you live, you in essence have to go through the same process as everyone else to get that which you desire. Either have the money to buy the demand or wait for a lottery to determine you will get it.
 
Steve said:
If you lived in Italy and had to be put in a lottery to get something you PAID for while the rest of the world can just buy one...that's assed up.


This.

Not sure why that is so hard to understand. :confused:
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Actually the way I see it is you're basically "pre-ordering" an iPhone (or Ferrarri) and since demand outweighs supply you don't get the first ones coming off the line, they simply chose a lottery process to see the order in which you get one. Its not like they're keeping your money and saying "hahahaha you lost the lottery we keep your money now!"

The only think that can be "assed up" is the fact the Apple store let unlimited people pre-order even though they knew their stock on day 1 or 2 or 3 would not match demand. I'm sure you could get a refund if you want.. although knowing Apple maybe not according to the ToS you agreed to by using their site :D
 
Those poor poor people. Being denied food... I mean iPhones.
 
SilverSliver said:
Ferrari's are made in Italy, and not every Italian is entitled to own one. What's your point, exactly?
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not sure but it probably has something to do with the idea that one would have to win a lottery to receive a POS mobile device that most rational people wouldn't want even if it was free. ? No?
 
Methadras said:
Supply and demand constraints are much greater than geographical constraints. It doesn't matter where you live, you in essence have to go through the same process as everyone else to get that which you desire. Either have the money to buy the demand or wait for a lottery to determine you will get it.
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I don't get your point. The Chinese individuals that pre-ordered the phone have the money. They are paying just like anyone else yet they are being subjected to this lottery nonsense unlike others that paid just as they did. This topic completely contradicts what you stated.

It doesn't matter where you live said:
In this case it does matter where they live and they are NOT going through the same process as everyone else.

All in all I don't think its that big of a deal or that surprising to me I just don't get what your trying to say.
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masterosok said:
I don't get your point. The Chinese individuals that pre-ordered the phone have the money. They are paying just like anyone else yet they are being subjected to this lottery nonsense unlike others that paid just as they did. This topic completely contradicts what you stated.

In this case it does matter where they live and they are NOT going through the same process as everyone else.

All in all I don't think its that big of a deal or that surprising to me I just don't get what your trying to say.
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EVERYONE except countries in the initial batch (Canada, USA, Germany, France, Japan) is pretty much on waiting list and got minimal shipments, as i said before (few hundred pieces per 10 million people). And then it is up to the local telecoms what to do :
- give iPhone 5 for now only to business clients ?
- give it only to own employees who want to buy them ?
- give it to the first few hundred who preordered (this happened in my country). Or by random selection (this happens in China).

What would be your choice if there is an extreme difference between the supply (few hundred pieces delivered) and demand (thousands or tens of thousands of interested in a small 5 million country) ? There is no good choice obviously, so any choice is as good as the other choices.
 
And this thread has went to shit. Damn Steve and his jokes that people take way too seriously!
 
Apple have been using this "lottery" system since the iPhone 3GS. They had to resort to this lottery system because the Mainland Chinese were actually starting fist-fights arguing over who was first in queue etc. They're an uncivilized bunch, they never form orderly queues, they will ALL try to jump queues just to be first buy a god damn train ticket! Local Hong Kong people are more civilized compared to mainlanders.

They just had enough of them causing fist fights and general hostility inside the Apple stores, so Apple just said fuck it, register your interest online and start praying for lady luck. Nowadays, instead of fist fights, you get a bunch of people waiting outside offering extra money to take you brand new iPhone off your hands. Even worst is that my cousin calls them iTouts.
 
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