It is often said that a picture paints a thousand words; in the case of this image, we fear that a photo might just kill a thousand Apple Bulls' hopes. Unlike the euphoric (and perhaps 'paid') crowds that emerge to wait night-after-night under the stars in the hopes of being one of the first to get their hands on next-generation iMaterial, it appears the Chinese are just not that bothered when it comes to iPhone5. The photo below, via WSJ's China Real-Time Report [4], shows the line (all two people) waiting outside of the Beijing Apple Store on the day of the launch of iPhone5 in China. Before you ask; no, one of them is not Gene Munster doing channel-checks. As the article notes, this is arguably "the least eventful launch of an Apple device in the company’s four-year history in the Chinese capital." They go on to note, "at 8 am on Friday, when the store opened to hurrahs from employees, only two consumers stood inside a cordon set up by Apple, though they were joined by a desultory snow man someone had made on a bench near the entrance," and we understand the snowman was under-impressed with the iPhone5. Perhaps this sole image is the best reflection of a 'fad' product and why the 'fad' stock price just pierced generational lows (at $517.48 in pre-market). WWJTD?
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