China is widely considered by many to be the future in terms of investing and growth. Apple’s Tim Cook believes this too and has stated multiple times that they consider China to be a key market for Apple, but how much do they really think of China? According to a recent report on Bloomberg, it seems that the tastes of the Chinese market plays a heavy role in designing products.
Some might recall that with the iPhone 5s, Apple introduced a new gold color option. Some might claim that it is gaudy and ostentatious, but over in Asia especially countries such as China, the color of gold symbolizes wealth and fortune, so much so that Apple decided that they would release a gold iPhone to suit the local tastes of the Chinese market.
This was revealed by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook during an interview with the Chinese-language version of Bloomberg Businessweek. We have to wonder with that being said, was that also the reason behind the rose gold option of the Apple Watch? Or the gold 12-inch MacBook? The idea of catering to the Chinese market is a smart one, especially when you consider the country’s population and its growth.
Even companies such as Xiaomi who were relatively unknown a couple of years ago has since surged to the number 3 spot in the smartphone market, even dethroning Samsung in China, so by creating smartphones to suit local tastes, Apple is hoping to stand their ground lest they end up ceding more market share to other local rivals.