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About this siteFor six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul Thursday, July 22, 2004Apple's Slow Boat to ChinaBusiness Week: "Beijing estimates that its economy is growing at a 9% clip, but that could understate the real growth in the big cities. China's economy is hard to get solid numbers on because so much of what happens remains off the books ... Apple, however, is hardly rushing into this potential promised land, although it has shown signs of interest. In May, 2004, it unveiled a deal to preload its popular iTunes music software on every PC made by Founder Technology, China's second-largest PC manufacturer ... many wondered whether the Founder deal presaged a more intensive iPod marketing campaign in the big urban centers of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. So far Apple hasn't done anything further on this score, but it ought to hurry up. It has a wide-open opportunity to become a big player in what will likely become the world's largest personal-tech market within the next decade. The math is compelling. Weingrod estimates that China now has 35 million to 40 million households with the equivalent purchasing power of a U.S. household earning $25,000 to $30,000 per year. That means now 100 million Chinese are living the middle-class life. That number could double or triple over the next 10 years, Weingrod figures, making the Chinese middle and upper classes nearly as large as the entire U.S. population."China is a tough nut to crack. People overwhelming use cheap PCs and pirated software, which means Windows usually, or Linux, which is becoming the State choice. It's unclear what Apple could do to make its Mac product lucrative in China. iPods are, however, another story. [ Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink ]
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