The Apple iPhone is flying off the shelves in China for a reason no one could’ve predicted.
Tech is a huge deal in China in general, but Chinese customers tend to buy ‘local’ whenever they can, which is why iPhone has been struggling in recent times.
But that’s changing.
And you’ll never guess why.
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The reason why Chinese buyers used to shun iPhones
For lots of reasons – including political, let’s be honest – Chinese buyers tend to buy Chinese products whenever they can.
And when it comes to tech, they’re spoiled from choice.
Xiaomi, OnePlus, and even Huawei (they’re also making cars now) – all these brands are Chinese, they make great products, and so people buy them.
We also should remember that most apps that we use every day in Europe and the US are either banned or only available in limited capacity in China.
Even Google Maps is blocked.
Emma Lau/Unsplash
Chinese buyers rely on native apps for everything, and some of those aren’t even available in the App Store.
These are the reasons why Chinese people weren’t really buying iPhones like the rest of the world was.
Until now, that is.
This is why iPhone 17 Pro is now ‘flavor of the month’ in China
Apple iPhone 17 Pro (and Pro Max) is now the hottest thing on the market in China because… it’s orange.
Apparently, Chinese buyers are buying the 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange for two reasons.
Dmitry Spravko/Unsplash
First, because it apparently reminds them of Hermès orange, and China is now going through a phase where luxury products are in demand.
And second, because in Mandarin, the word ‘orange’ sounds similar to ‘success’.
So there we have it, today’s lesson.
Sometimes, you can spend thousands of hours and billions of dollars on R&D to make your product great, but then people will simply buy it because of a color or a detail you hadn’t even considered.