iPhone搶攻拉丁美洲
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2014/3/14
2014-03-10Web only
作者：經濟學人
 |
| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/compudemano/ |
2月15日，蘋果在里約熱內盧開設了拉丁美洲第一間零售店；蘋果希望能增加此區的市佔率，因為這裡的智慧型手機市場成長僅次於亞洲。不過，iPhone 5s的鏡面螢幕，也反映著拉丁美洲的經濟差異。
縱使巴西經濟成長不佳，蘋果仍舊選擇在此開設店面，原因在於巴西為全球五大智慧型手機市場之一，去年智慧型手機銷售量亦首度超越傳統手機。大部分拉丁美洲居民都買不起iPhone，但巴西的iPhone價格亦十分嚇人；16GB的iPhone 5s要價2,519雷亞爾（1,076美元），主要都會區的平均月收入則不到2,000雷亞爾。價格高昂的主因在於稅賦；專家預估，1,000雷亞爾的外國供應商產品，最後可能會變成2,017雷亞爾，其中900雷亞爾都是稅。
至少巴西人還買得到iPhone。委內瑞拉基本物資短缺，早在2月混亂暴發前就已經影響了手機市場。2010年開始，委內瑞拉的電信商得透過政府中介、亦即委內瑞拉電信購買手機，但委內瑞拉電信已不再授權電信商購買手機。
想買iPhone 5s的委內瑞拉人有幾個選擇，他們可以從國外帶回來，也可以透過購物網站MercadoLibre購買。不過，由於官方和非官方匯率差異極大，大多數人無法負擔以黑市匯率進口的產品；平均收入者得存下近2年的收入，才能買一支iPhone。
而在阿根廷，最方便的iPhone購買管道仍是MercadoLibre。另一個選擇，則是請朋友去美國或歐洲買；不過，旅客僅能攜帶300美元的商品入境阿根廷，超額部分得支付50%的稅。
智利、哥倫比亞、墨西哥、秘魯的蘋果客戶就幸運一些；在這些地方，想買iPhone 5s並非難事，前提是有錢又有閒。在墨西哥，不綁約的iPhone 5s要價10,599披索（800美元）；這超出了多數墨西哥人的負擔能力，電信費方案亦是如此，所以iPhone銷售商大多以價格較低的舊款iPhone為主打。
另一個條件則是耐心。在秘魯簽訂智慧型手機綁約方案，得排很多隊、簽很多文件，但問題並非到此為止；客戶服務不佳，而且智慧型手機相當容易遭竊。其他拉丁美洲國家也都有這樣的問題，看來，拉丁美洲國家還是有些共同點。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
The Economist
iPhonenomics
One phone,
many countries
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: March
10, 2014
Mar 8th 2014 |
From the print edition
Costly Brazil,
dysfunctional Argentina, bureaucratic Mexico. Our correspondents go shopping
for the same Apple product.
APPLE products are
designed to say something about their owners. They also tell you something
about the countries in which they are sold. Latin America's allure as a
consumer market was underlined on February 15th, when the technology firm
opened its first retail store on the continent, in Rio de Janeiro. Apple wants
a bigger slice of the region's smartphone market, which has been growing faster
than any region outside Asia. But the glass screen of the iPhone 5s, Apple's
flagship smartphone, also reflects Latin America's economic diversity.
Start with Brazil,
the region's biggest consumer market. Despite sluggish economic growth, Apple
chose to plant its flag there for a reason. The country is among the top five
markets for smartphones in the world. Last year was the first when more smartphones
were sold in Brazil than traditional mobile phones, according to Abinee, an
electronics-industry association; it was also the year when tablet sales
overtook those of desktop computers. As many as 1,700 people queued up to be
among the first on Apple's Rio premises.
iPhones are beyond
the reach of most people in all the countries of Latin America, but the sticker
shock is particularly striking in Brazil. A 16GB iPhone 5s costs 2,519 reais
($1,076), compared with an average monthly income of just under 2,000 reais in
the main metropolitan regions. That makes Brazil the dearest, in dollar terms,
of the countries where Apple has stores; the tax-inclusive price of a 16GB
iPhone 5s in the United States is around $700.
The fault lies
with the infamous custo Brasil (Brazil cost), the exorbitant cost of doing
business in the country. The high price of the iPhone 5s is largely due to
tariffs and state and federal taxes on imports, says Luis Fernández of
Deloitte. He calculates that a gizmo which a foreign supplier sells for 1,000
reais could end up being resold at 2,017 reais, with taxes amounting to 900
reais, or 45%, of that sum. Brazil's government has introduced tax incentives
for companies ready to assemble gadgets in the country. But even then, thecusto
Brasil hits home: iPads and older iPhones assembled locally still cost more
than they do in the United States, thanks to high labour costs and expensive
commercial rents.
iWatering
At least wannabe
iPhone users in Brazil can get their hands on the things. In Venezuela the
shortages that have hit everything from basic groceries to catfood had caught
up with the gadget market well before the unrest that started in February.
Since 2010
telecoms service providers in Venezuela have been barred from purchasing direct
from manufacturers and must go through a government intermediary, Telecom
Venezuela. But Telecom is no longer authorising purchases by the providers, and
their shelves are bare of phones. In the run-up to the December local
elections, President Nicolás Maduro also forced retailers, especially of
electronic goods, to slash their prices. Samsung-branded shops in Caracas look
as if they have been looted.
A Venezuelan
determined to get his hands on a 5s has a couple of options: either bring one
in personally or buy one via MercadoLibre, Latin America's equivalent to eBay.
But only a tiny minority of Venezuelans can afford the phone in any case.
Because of the huge gap between the official and unofficial exchange rates,
goods that are imported at the black-market rate are out of reach to most. It
would take the average earner nigh on two years to have enough to buy an
iPhone.
Venezuela is a law
unto itself, but neither is Argentina any place to buy the 5s. In 2009
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner passed a law that was designed to
promote industry in Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the country and a
splendidly daft place to locate a high-tech cluster. Devices that are assembled
in the Patagonian province benefit from a 60% reduction in excise taxes.
Samsung and BlackBerry did decide to start producing in Tierra del Fuego as a
result: their devices are widely available, bearing orange stickers to
advertise the fact they are "made in Argentina". Apple refused to
play ball, and most stores do not stock iPhones.
The easiest place
to buy the iPhone 5s is again on MercadoLibre. Another option is to have
friends travelling to the United States or Europe act as iPhone mules, although
that can mean sticky moments at customs: passengers are only supposed to bring
goods worth $300 into the country, and a 50% tax is payable on anything in
excess of that. Using an iPhone can also lead to political embarrassment:
Argentina's vice-president, Amado Boudou, once got into hot water for tweeting
from his iPhone about the need to protect local industry.
Argentina is a
member of Mercosur, a trade bloc that often seems ambivalent about trade. In
the countries of the Pacific Alliance—Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—things
are easier for aspiring Apple customers. Consumers in these places have few
problems getting hold of the iPhone 5s, provided they have two things: money
and time.
"There are
plenty of iPhones in Mexico. What's lacking is purchasing power," says
Ernesto Piedras, head of the Competitive Intelligence Unit, a research firm in
that country. BlackBerry and Samsung have 24% of the smartphone market each,
says Mr Piedras, compared with Apple's 14%. An iPhone 5s bought without a plan
costs 10,599 pesos ($800). That is beyond the reach of most Mexicans, as are
Telcel's monthly plans (85% of mobile usage in the country is pay-as-you-go).
So iPhone vendors tend to focus on selling not the 5s, but previous models that
are more affordable. The black market is another option for cash-strapped
consumers. Places like San Andresito, a sprawling marketplace in Bogotá, offer
Colombians the chance to find iPhones at cheaper prices than usual.
Patience is the
other requirement. Your correspondent in Mexico City recently acquired an
iPhone 5s from Telcel, by far the biggest mobile carrier, for 4,000 pesos
($300), as part of a two-year plan. The process took two hours and the plan is
stingy. Obtaining a smartphone contract in Peru similarly involves lots of
queuing, lots of paperwork, and the waste of a few hours. The hassles do not
end there. Customer service is poor and flaunting your new toy risks theft.
That is true of other countries in the region, too. Diverse as it is, Latin
America does have some things in common.
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
沒有留言:
張貼留言