14 DAY TRIAL // It’s not a secret that many people consider iPhones an indicator of wealth, but as far as China is concerned, things are exactly the other way around.
A recent research conducted by Shanghai-based Mobdata and published by South China Morning Post reveals that most iPhone buyers in the country are poor and less educated.
The surprising statistics, which some think may be part of an attempt to drive Chinese customers to local brands, claim most iPhone buyers are unmarried females aged between 18 and 34 who only graduated the high school. Their monthly income is less than 3,000 yuan (around $430) and, in most of the cases, they own few valuable assets.
These customers don’t buy the latest-generation iPhone models, but older versions like iPhone 6, which at this point is the top iPhone in the country, followed by iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
The research puts iPhone buyers in a category called “invisible poor,” which as the cited source explains, groups people “who do not look as poor as their financial circumstances.”
Wealthy people choose Chinese phones
As fall as college graduates and wealthy people are concerned, they most often buy Huawei phones, or devices manufactured by Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. These people earn more than 20,000 yuan (nearly $2,900) every month and own expensive assets like cars and apartments.
Huawei buyers are generally married men aged 25 to 34, the research indicates.
Right now, Apple owns just 9 percent of the smartphone market in China, despite the company’s aggressive push in the country. The latest-generation iPhone, for instance, comes with a special dual-SIM system for Chinese buyers, supporting two traditional SIM cards, whereas the rest of the world gets a mix of SIM + eSIM.
Huawei, on the other hand, together with other brands like Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, account for more than 80 percent of the mobile market in China.