Apple to Launch the iPhone 5SE in China This Week - Will it Succeed?

The Apple iPhone 5SE launches on Thursday and preliminary numbers at China-based retailers suggest decent demand — but the black market tells a more mixed story. The U.S. tech giant started taking pre-orders for the smartphone on March 24 and has not released official figures. However, as of Monday in Beijing, total pre-orders on three retailing sites exceeded 3.4 million. Despite the brisk pre-orders, though, Chinese vendors and scalpers are uncertain if the iPhone SE will be a sure bet like previous models. One scalper is offering the iPhone SE at a $20 discount to the official price in China. In the past, scalpers have been able to charge a premium of roughly $300 over the official price for a newly released iPhone, but one  Hong Kong smuggler who refused to be named said he expected to charge just $30 above the listed price for the iPhone SE. Until now, Apple has competed in China's massive smartphone market only with its high-end iPhones. The iPhone has become a status symbol, helping to make the country a top market for the U.S. tech giant. The iPhone SE is seen as a way for the company to expand in emerging nations and to target more price-sensitive consumers. In China, the lower end of the market has been dominated by less expensive Android-based smartphones sold by Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Meizu. Can the smaller, less-expensive iPhone capture significant market share in China? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone: http://smartphoneandtabletzone.blogspot.com/