From Market Watch:
Chinese cell phone buyers, who are among the world’s most voracious consumers of mobile devices, will not see Apple Inc.’s (AAPL :122.04, +1.48, +1.2%) iPhone in local stores for at least another year.But the hype on China’s Internet surrounding the iPhone’s launch – even outside of the “geek” crowd – has been impressive, with prominent headlines about the new device on most of China’s major Internet portals like SINA Corp. (SINA :41.86, +0.26, +0.6% ) , Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU :31.99, +1.85, +6.1% ) and NetEase.com Inc., (NTES :17.02, +0.09,+0.5% ).
An interesting white paper published last week by Shanghai-based “Internet Word of Mouth” researchers CIC), which analyzes the content of nearly 5 million Internet forum comments about mobile phones during the first quarter of 2007, indicates that Chinese consumers overwhelmingly talk about market-leading Nokia Corp. (NOK :28.11, +0.15, +0.5% ) and Motorola Inc. (MOT :17.70, -0.13, -0.7% ) . Some 96% of the “buzz” about mobile phones among China’s Internet users is focused on the top five brands, and 19 of the top 20 most chatted-about handset models were from Nokia and Motorola. See report.
CIC’s study also indicates the level of passion in conversations about mobile phones by China’s Internet users, with over 700 thousand users posting almost 5 million comments about their handsets. Wouldn’t you think Apple would want a piece of this action? [Full Text]
See also a YouTube video showing a fake iPhone from China.
