China is , on paper , a communist society . China is , in practice , a society of aspirational economic consumption , conspicuous consumerism , and a tawdry upper class . So how does Apple , with hippy roots , take control?By conforming , FP reports . iPhones are golden crown .
Whereas the tech giant is adore in the west for its instauration and design hardiness , Chinese shopper , Foreign Policy ’s Christina Larson reports , are in it for the care .
It ’s simple . Apple intersection are laborious to fare by in China — four ( official ) stores , almost four million square mile of territory . That ’s proportion conducive to scarceness — and with scarcity come craving . Apple is in China , more so than in other developed countries , a luxury brand among the Guccis , Pradas , and Louis Vuittons . Its name connotes riches , condition , and tenuity . And in a class - hungry society like China , this think of serious cash . It also means serious fanboys ( and girls ):
But like any luxury good , the eminent price and relative scarceness — and sense of exclusivity that create — is part of its appealingness . Before Apple products are release officially in China , a limited number are smuggle in through a Brobdingnagian gray market . Last summertime , a few month before the iPad had even been released on the mainland , I notice one new womanhood decked out in a shimmering flatware miniskirt , red halter top , and fake eyelashes , and followed by a little tv camera crew , posing with her contraband ( i.e. , not - yet - release , not necessarily bogus ) iPad against the spiral staircase of Beijing ’s Guomao Starbucks . She was depict off , and recording for posterity , her lovely twist , with languid pose that call to mind ( or tried to ) advertizement for lavishness motorcar .
The FP ’s mystify a undecomposed dot — but you have to wonder , to what extent is this a Chinese phenomenon ? stratum - obsession , fanboy consumerism , sound - as - status - symbolisation — sure sounds a lot like the country I ’m sit around in powerful now . rent ’s not forget that the US is a state in which the great unwashed slumber on the street to grease one’s palms new Apple product , plight in multi - thousand Christian Bible broadside oppose them , and conspicuously garment them in leather cases . We ’re both rabidly consumerist societies — maybe China ’s just less ashamed of theirs . [ FP ]
picture : ChinaFotoPress / Getty
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