One reason Apple is losing market share in emerging markets like China and India is that Apple's devices cost a fortune relative to the average incomes in the country.
This is why Wall Street is hoping that Apple will release a cheaper version of the iPhone this year--so the company can more fully participate in the explosive gadget growth in emerging markets.
Journalist Adam Minter tweeted a link to the article below, which captures a vivid image of Apple's emerging-markets problem.
Minter says the article is from a China tech news site. The tech-news writeup is second-hand, and the original story may obviously be fake or planted or anti-Apple propaganda.
But the picture and story are amusing, nonetheless.
The article describes a Chinese art student who borrowed money to buy Apple gadgets last year and then had to carry bricks at a construction site for 8 days to pay off the loans.
The student's conclusion, according to the story and Google Translate?
"If you let me choose again, I would rather not have Apple devices."
Here's a snapshot of the Google Translate version:
And here's the conclusion:
