Not only is China authoritarian it also follows a non religious ideology, not that there is anything wrong with that in itself (I myself am an atheist ). The extent of this non religious outlook is that their outlook is limited to an extreme patriotism whereby the Republic is supreme.

With this there is a tendency for any sense of human dignity, individuality and therefore rights to be suppressed or erroded. Any emotional sense of brotherhood with the rest of mankind is despised. It is a type of nationalism that is ruthless. It is one of the reasons that the Chinese turn a blind eye in africa in pursuit of there business interests there and also why they are an indifferent player at the UN.

In context of copyright and intellectual property they have no qualms in ripping ideas from elsewhere. This is one reason I don't exhibit work in China. Unfortunately Western Nations buy into this by doing business there to make a faster buck. Are we shooting ourselves in the foot? Some are benefitting but generally the rest of us may regret it.

copyright

iGrouch 2008

China is incompatible with the world.

... that people will have to think again when it comes to China. Once, West looked down on Japanese products. Cheap, plastic toys. That was in the 50s and the 60s. Then it was the Koreans. The same there. They only copy Western products. Now it is China.
Well, to get a historic perspective, we should go back, say, 400 years or so - which is not a long time in that perspective; then Western (European) products were frowned upon. In Asia. They were poorly manufactured and held a low quality. It was not until the Europeans robbed the gold of the Incas et cetera, that they could get into the Asian market by paying up with cold cash. Combined with ruthlessness, lots of ambition and few scruples, if any, they ended up dominating the world.

So, China today is not like China of yesterday and certainly not like China of tomorrow. How the latter will be, is too early to say. But I think that if Apple manage to get a foot in, they have made their fortune - and more than what you would find in a cookie:)

I think Mr. Elgan has a cogent argument. Apple can't do well in a jurisdiction that doesn't enforce laws that protect intellectual property; where third party partners refuse to share revenues in a way that provides Apple with a profitable business model, and where consumers--and here is where I disagree with Mr. Elgan, because the Chinese are crazy about luxury brands--though they love luxury brands, only value the brand itself, not the quality of product and/or service that the brand betokens.

For example, the Chinese buyer of a counterfeit iPhone is delighted with his iPhone, even though its software doesn't work quite right; there is no iTunes Store; no App Store, no support, no reliable way to upgrade the functionality of his counterfeit iPhone's software. It is enough for him that he has an iPhone. He is completely ignorant of Apple's user experience and, therefore, doesn't value it. His user's experience is based on the products that he knows; if his counterfeit iPhone is no better, so what.

Well, Apple sells a superior user's experience, superior quality, and superior functionality, all of which is protected and made exceptionally profitable by strong and enforceable intellectual property laws, which allow Apple to bargain for the value of its intellectual property with its partners. These conditions simply don't exist in China, nor do they exist in Russia.

For Apple to succeed in China and Russia, it must first expose potential customers in those countries to Apple's superior user's experience and work, as so many others are working, to get China to enforce its IP laws. I think that opening an Apple Store in Beijing is a first step in selling its user's experience to the Chinese. Note that the Apple Store in Beijing caters to foreigners, who, I think, will be the fifth column that exposes the Chinese to the real Apple experience. I also think that this is the principal reason for in-store activation of the iPhone 3G: To restrict the flow of illegal iPhone's to China and Russia. As for getting China to enforce its IP laws, that won't happen until the U.S. and other members of the WTO, World Trade Organization, get serious about sanctioning China for not honoring its obligations to enact and enforce laws protecting IP. But it will be a long, hard slog for Apple to win in China and Russia, as it has in the U.S., Europe, and other markets.

So what is Apple to do? One, as mentioned, supra, Apple should seize on every practical opportunity to expose Chinese and Russian citizens to the superior quality of its user's experience and hope that they will agree that it is worth paying for; it should employee every practical means to interdict piracy of its intellectual property; it should work with allies through out the world to get the U.S. and other countries to sanction China and Russia for their violation of their obligations under international trade treaties, and in no circumstances should Apple ever capitulate to potential partners in China or Russia who refuse to respect and pay full value for its intellectual property. This may mean that Apple will have to write off China and/or Russia, but it doesn't do any good, as Microsoft has learned, to have billions of new customers on which you not only make no profit, you lose money as your pirated goods cause you to lose sales that you otherwise would have had.

There were a lot of reasons why we'd never have a really great music download service. The record companies would NEVER allow it!. And even if they did, they'd restrict it! And they'd never agree on anything! Then Steve Jobs negotiated the iTunes music store starting with the big 5 on board at $0.99 a track! It was a miracle.

I'm not sayin' China will be easy, but if any product line can do it, it's Apple's, and if any CEO can negotiate it, it's Steve Jobs. Maybe his biggest challenge to date, in terms of marketing. But look at how the record companies have come about because of him. Today Sony&GMB, tomorrow the World!

Only one guy got it partially right. The rest of you, including Mike Elgan, knows nothing about China and it's people. You watch too many chinese movies and have preconcieved notions. For instance, not all chinese know kung fu. Also, chinese living in the cities know iPhone is the phone to have. They also think it's the coolest gadget on the planet.

"Apple is a mass-market luxury brand in a country that prizes value above brand."

I do not believe that this statement is universal within China. Certainly a large portion of the population follows this belief. However, there is a large minority of the population that values brand as much as or more than value. These are the customers that Apple needs to pursue. Frankly speaking, there are a large number of people in the US that prize value above brand - look at all the no name PCs for sale on the internet and at local retail stores.

This is a common mistake made by those who have a superficial understanding of Apple products. Yes, Apple has a powerful brand but it is not a luxury item. It is something different. Apple products are a strong blend of industrial design yielding utility and good looks along with massive amounts of engineering. It is the massive amounts of IP and engineering working in the background that makes the surface operation look effortless.

Apart from that I agree, China is a mess. Kudos to them for improving. I've been visiting there off and on for 25 years and the improvements they've made are monumental. Still, China is chaotic. I think that their own home-grown industries will clamor for stricter enforcement of standard IP laws when they find they can't grow without them.