Links » Crème » Apple sells 2 million iPhones in China in three days, but Android is still dominating the market

---

• Apple sells 2 million iPhones in China in three days, but Android is still dominating the market
• Wang Lijun employed a team of more than 20 officers nicknamed the “Smurfs”
• Mid-Week Links: Yahoo shuts down its China music service, Drogba may be out of Shanghai as well, and Kim Jong-un’s wife is pregnant?
• Jackie Chan Says He Fought Off Gangsters With Guns And Grenades, Now Being Probed For Illegal Firearm Ownership
• People’s Daily editorializes on the Internet, calls it “not a space beyond the law”

Apple sells 2 million iPhones in China in three days, but Android is still dominating the market Posted: 19 Dec 2012 09:15 AM PST Despite the iPhone 5s seemingly chilly reception at its December 14 launch — it was a non-event at the Beijing Apple Store, where fights occurred at the last product unveiling — sales have nonetheless been brisk. Over 2 million units were sold in three days, according to Apple's press release. "Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products." And yet, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt probably isn't taking back his words from a Bloomberg interview last week: "This is a huge platform change; this is of the scale of 20 years ago — Microsoft versus Apple," he said. "We're winning that war pretty clearly now." That reason: China. It sure helps, anyway. In second- and third-tier cities here, Apple devices are overwhelmingly outnumbered by smartphones running android. Reports Android Central: We saw the 33-percent of all Android devices sold in 2012 we in China, but — and this is a big but — only 59-percent of those were using an "authentic" build of Android and use Google's services. That means that a full 41-percent of the zillions of Android phones sold in China aren't getting counted in activation numbers or that monthly OS chart we see from Google. They are phones running customized version, from the likes of Baidu or Alibaba. Let's get out our wizard hats and do a little math. There are approximately 1.5 million Android devices activated every single day. A full third of that would be 500,000 phones and tablets. 59-percent of that total would be 295,000. We're guessing Apple isn't crying over lost profit. It has a very successful line of other products, notably the tablet, and, well, it is the most valuable company in the world by some metrics. Still — Android has reason to be feeling pretty good.

Wang Lijun employed a team of more than 20 officers nicknamed the “Smurfs” Posted: 19 Dec 2012 06:23 AM PST How much do you care about Wang Lijun? Enough to read a 40-page Chinese story about him in Southern Metropolis Weekly? Short of that, check out South China Morning Post's summary of the story. Short of that, here are some excerpts. Wang paid great attention to his public image. He employed a personal PR team of more than 20 police officers. All dressed in blue uniforms, they were nicknamed the "Smurfs". The Smurfs were armed publicists and secretaries, basically. Picture it. Wang "invited" underground gun-makers to resume production by supplying them with equipment, funding and a place to work – a big cave in a remote town named Xiushan, bordering Guizhou province. The invitation worked and Wang's entrapment plot proceeded as planned. In September of 2008, Wang led thousands of special force police officers with submachine guns and bazookas to the cave. He flirted with the idea of shooting a bazooka, but another high-ranking official turned down the suggestion. Instead, they used dynamite to blow up the gun operation and destroy the cave. A bazooka. The dude just upgraded the actor who'll eventually portray him from Hung Yan Yan to Andy Lau. Wang required his policemen to display "good taste" by the way they dress. During his term, he ordered that two sets of casual-style police uniforms, costing 8,000 yuan (HK$9,932) in total, be made for each police officer in Chongqing. Good taste is important. Businessmen Gong Gangmo, a convicted mafia boss who was arrested by Wang in 2009, said he was hung by his hands for eight days in a detention centre and beaten by the police. He said the police had covered the camera with a curtain so it could not be recorded. Play with fire, you'll get burned. Wang also claimed to be an expert in arts and architecture. He is the owner of 150 patents and had designed police uniforms, police boots and police raincoats, among other creations. The man is awesome, and sorely missed. When he's out of jail in 15 years, we'll see the Wang Lijun redemption story, I think. In America, he'd make seven digits lending his name out to ghost-written autobiographies and serial thriller novels. In China… to be continued. (The real Wang Lijun revealed in magazine exposé)

Mid-Week Links: Yahoo shuts down its China music service, Drogba may be out of Shanghai as well, and Kim Jong-un’s wife is pregnant? Posted: 19 Dec 2012 04:30 AM PST Creepy Santa in Shanghai, via This Is A Typo Kim Jong-un's wife is pregnant. "As North Korea marked the first anniversary of the death of its former dictator, Kim Jong-il, the nation's current leader may be celebrating new life as pictures appear to show Kim Jong-un's wife sporting a significant baby bump." (National Post) No trickle-down prosperity. "…Says angel investor and philanthropist Charles Xue, and in fact, at least 681 of China's 2,800 counties are bogged down in grinding poverty. To expose this stark contrast, Xue has come up with an ingenious and cost-effective public awareness campaign via social media platform Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblogging service. // 'I ask you all to upload to Sina Weibo photos of government offices in these poverty-stricken counties alongside photos of local schools and farmers' houses. We want to know how our taxpayer money is being used for poverty alleviation. Let's see how many photos we can get up! Join together to support! Forward this! Upload!'" (SCMP) Building collapes, woman killed. "Rescue workers reach survivor stuck in collapsed building for 22 hours. // A 24-year-old woman trapped for more than 22 hours in the rubble of a residential building that collapsed was saved on Monday. // But her roommate, a 21-year-old woman, was killed after the building fell down on Sunday in Ningbo city in East China's Zhejiang province. Residents had earlier been told to evacuate the building after large cracks appeared." (China Daily) Bye, Yahoo music. "Yahoo China has announced that it will shut down its Chinese music service due to an adjustment of its product strategy on January 20, 2013. // A statement posted on the company's music search portal reads: // 'Thank you all for your continued support of Yahoo's products. As part of an adjustment to our product strategy, we have decided to stop providing the Yahoo [China] Music service starting January 20, 2013.'" (The Next Web) First Anelka, now Drogba? "Drogba signed a two-and-a-half year deal reportedly worth around $300,000 (£185,000) per week in June, but the Shanghai-based Oriental Sports Daily said last week the 34-year-old striker was owed wages in the wake of a long-running equity row at the club." (The Guardian) Wang Yue driver's prison sentence reduced. "Last year, the case of Wang Yue, the toddler who was run over twice and left for dead by 19 pedestrians caused much soul searching about the apathy of the Chinese public. // Now the first driver to hit her, Hu Jun, has had his jail sentence reduced by a year to 2 and a half years on appeal, according to Southern Metropolis Daily. The accident happened on Oct. 13 and Hu carried on with his life for 3 days, he maintains that he didn't see the girl and only found out about the incident when he saw it in the news. He turned himself in." (The Nanfang) South China fugitive blows up cop. "A policeman was killed after a suspect set off explosives while being chased by police in south China's Guangdong Province on Sunday afternoon, local authorities announced on Monday." (Xinhua) This might be taken the wrong way. "A local official's image has been printed on anti-counterfeit labels for fireworks and firecrackers in Lixin county, Anhui Province, the Hefei-based Xin'an Evening News reported. // …A fireworks and firecrackers vendor in the county said that these labels first appeared at the beginning of this year. "It's rare. I have never seen an official's image printed on labels before." Some locals have found it a bit strange to see a person's image printed on the explosives." (Global Times) China loves building dams. "It's a scenario that is hardly unique. China's giant state enterprises and banks have completed, are working on or are proposing some 300 dams from Algeria to Myanmar. // Poor countries contend the dams are crucial to bringing electricity to tens of millions who live without it and boosting living standards. Environmental activists and other opponents counter that China, the world's No. 1 dam builder, is willing and able to go where most Western companies, the World Bank and others won't tread anymore because of environmental, social, political or financing concerns." (AP) Photography of Guangzhou, via r/china: Finally… Pictures of Wuhan's anti-terrorism drill prior to subway opening. (China News via QQ) "The Real Danger in China's Mines." (2Non) "Chinese media accused of 'crying only for American kids', ignoring domestic school rampage." (Ministry of Tofu) Funny images of Chinese political scandals. (China Digital Times) Interview with Dong Young, author of The Party Line: How the Media Dictates Public Opinion in China. (Shanghaiist) A travelogue post in which there's a picture of a panda on a tree. (Riot, Riot!) "Created in China" – on hackerspaces. (Interactions) The tale of a foreigner trying to get into China on an expired visa. (Dave Seminara, Gadling) Finally, finally… Via Global Times: "Officials who have been removed or investigated for corruption within a month of the 18th CPC National Congress. (left to right) Chen Hongping, chief of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, Zheng Beiquan, deputy mayor of Yingde in Guangdong, Lü Yingming, deputy director of Guangdong Land and Resources Department, Liang Daoxing, former deputy mayor of Shenzhen, Li Chuncheng, vice Party chief of Sichuan, Shan Zengde, deputy director of the Shandong Department of Agriculture, and Lei Zhengfu, the Party chief of Beibei district in Chongqing Photo: CFP."

Jackie Chan Says He Fought Off Gangsters With Guns And Grenades, Now Being Probed For Illegal Firearm Ownership Posted: 19 Dec 2012 03:27 AM PST Jackie Chan's bad week continues. Last week, he drew everyone's ire by speaking out against Hong Kong protesters; this week, the charismatic movie star is being investigated by cops for off-the-cuff remarks he made in a print interview about using firearms to fight off triad members. Global Times, citing China Newsweek magazine, reports: Chan made the revelation in an interview with the Guangzhou-based magazine Southern People Weekly saying that many Hong Kong actors were once bullied by local mafia-style gangs, and only he dared to confront them. "I was at dinner once when more than 20 people with watermelon machetes surrounded me. I had three guns with me and told them that they had gone too far," the magazine quoted him as saying. Chan said after that he even brought two guns and six grenades with him. Police, instead of focusing on the part where a gang of 20 people with machetes tried to kill Jackie Chan, fixated on the guns and grenades. In their defense — guns and GRENADES: If the story turns out to be true, he would have blatantly breached gun-related regulations and if it's not he could be in trouble for spreading misleading information to the public, said the spokesperson. According to gun laws in Hong Kong, a license is required to carry a firearm. It is not known if Chan had ever been issued a gun license by the Hong Kong Police Force. Breaking the gun law in the region can net an offender a fine of HK$100,000 ($12,903) and up to 14 years in prison. Chan, who's been doing a lot of backtracking recently, gave a most bizarre statement to the public: "I told the media about my unruly behavior to express that I had the thought of resorting to violence because of my lack of education. I cannot express myself properly sometimes, I only want to say that people need discipline, and our government should manage the public and resources in a fair way," Chan responded on his verified Sina Weibo Thursday. "I know the more I explain, the more questions will be asked about me," he added. "I cannot express myself properly sometimes." Like, now? "People need discipline"? "Our government should manage public and resources"? What are you saying, man? South China Morning Post has more Chan quotes, which we'll pass along because they're amusing, since Chan is obviously entering that stage in his career where the number of fucks he gives is zero. "In the past, when they bullied me, I hid in the United States. They opened fire at me once I got off the aeroplane. From that moment on, I needed to carry a gun every day when I went out. When I returned to Hong Kong and ate outside, more than 20 people surrounded me with melon knives," he said. "I pulled out a gun, and had two more concealed. I told them they had been going too far and that I had been hiding from them. Later on, I confronted them with two guns and six grenades," he was quoted as saying. …"As long as there are people, there are thieves," he said. "If you can get away with gold from HSBC without hurting anyone, that's wonderful, and I think you are a genius. But it is unforgivable to injure anyone if you hold hostages."

People’s Daily editorializes on the Internet, calls it “not a space beyond the law” Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:56 PM PST Yesterday, People's Daily published a front-page column calling for better behavior on the Internet, not sure whether with the window open or closed in its ivory tower. As translated by China Media Project (emphasis theirs): An open China requires a civilized and healthy online world governed by rule of law. Everyone, whether supervising government bodies or the masses of internet users, must treasure this platform. Demanding that people all use the correct means to say the correct things is not practical, but they must have a consciousness of the law and take responsibility for their words — this is a must. Because regardless of whether online or offline, this is the foundation on which public order and good habits are built. We've brought this up before, but how easy is it to put together these copy-and-paste editorials? Let's see… An open China requires a civilized and healthy micro-bacterial world governed by rule of law. Everyone, whether supervising government bodies or the masses of microbes, must treasure this platform. Because regardless of whether a prokaryote or eukaryote, this is the foundation on which public order and good habits are built. Yup, that works. An open China requires a civilized and healthy avifauna governed by rule of law. Everyone, whether supervising government bodies or the masses of feathered friends, must treasure this platform. Because regardless of whether a sparrow or spoonbill, this is the foundation on which public order and good habits are built. Where else can we go with this? An open China requires a civilized and healthy government governed by rule of law. Everyone, whether supervising local officials or Audi-driving Party members, must treasure this platform. Because regardless of whether a civil servant or law-maker, this is the foundation on wh… WHOA WHOA WHOA! Delete delete delete. Let's not get carried away now!

You are subscribed to email updates from Update » Links » China 精文 Crème To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610