Cambodia Calling: iPhone adoption rates highest among lower-income

Friday, October 31, 2008

iPhone adoption rates highest among lower-income

My good friend in Singapore, Jimmy, is so in love with his iPhone, he has a blog "The Singapore iPhone Guide". iPhoneinSingapore

I was interested to read this post about the iPhone's take-up rate in the US: "A new study from comScore shows that the iPhone adoption has risen highest among households earning less than US$100,000 a year (over the months of June, July and August 2008).

Under US$25,000, increase is 16 percent
US$25,000 to US$50,000 per year, increase is 48 percent
US$50,000 to US$75,000, increase is 46 percent
US$75,000 to S$100,000, increase is 3 percent
Above US$100,000, increase is 16 percent"

Just like in Cambodia. Khmers are mobile phone-mad. You will find that in Cambodia, the expats have the crappiest phones and the Khmers have the fancy ones.

I once spoke to a girl who works in a massage place after her fancy phone rang. I asked her how much it cost her and she said more than USD100. Her salary? USD40 a month. I asked how she could afford it and she said she saved for a year. Unbelievable. Handphones here are just like designer handbags in Singapore. The newspapers and magazines (in an ill-disguised bid to please advertisers) routinely write stories on how Ms X, Y, Z went without lunch for months so they can buy the latest "It Bag". I feel sorry for these sheep-people.

One of the Bloom staff members used to drive me crazy by always telling me he wanted an expensive phone (and an expensive motorbike). I had given him my expensive clamshell Nokia from Singapore, because he bugged and bugged me for it (at that time I had two phones). He then sold it for USD50, with the plan to upgrade to a better phone. Then I gave him another one (because I keep getting old phones from Singapore) and he said he wanted to sell it too!

Somedays I think, I am not here to help a Cambodian buy an expensive phone or a motorbike. Other days I think it's up to people how they want to spend their money.

Anyway, jimmy also does interviews with Singaporeans who write programmes for the iPhone. Here is one guy: Interview

And here is my USD20 second-hand Nokia. I am a sad Mac :( [I don't know how to make crosses for the eyes...]

2 comments:

Jimmy Yap said...: I see you found out about my guilty fetish! Yes, I spend too much time on my iPhone.

I think you're Nokia is pretty cool though. You'll never have to worry about it being stolen.

- jy; 11:17 pm
Diana Saw said...: Yes lah! That is why i use a cheap phone here in Cambodia. Actually, you know I have been thinking about it--it is probably the case that richer people have multiple gadgets (a digital camera, an MP3 player etc etc) whereas a poorer person buys the iPhone because it is all in one. Maybe that is why the take up rate is slower among the rich.

When are you coming to visit me in Siem Reap? Jetstar was offering ZERO dollars air tickets last week!! Swee is coming in Feb, yay!; 12:14 pm

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Some argue that "Shopping is more important than voting", and that the disposition of money is the most basic role we play in any system of economics. Some theorists believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices, i.e., if we say we care about something but continue to buy from parties that have a high probability of risk of harm or destruction of that thing, we really don't care about it; we are practicing a form of simple hypocrisy." - Ethical Consumerism, Wikipedia

THE BLOOM MANIFESTO

1. We believe in the right of all people to a decent life, free of poverty and with access to education

2. We believe you will be enriched helping the poor

3. We believe women hold up half the sky

4. We believe workers should always be paid a fair wage

5. We believe if you knew the truth, you would not be an accessory to the exploitation of workers

6. We believe exploitation is evil

7. We believe in the power of good over evil

8. We believe in the power of the individual to bring about change

9. We believe your bag is a reflection of you - are you really a sheep?

10. We believe quality is worth paying for

11. We believe in love at first sight - at least where our bags are concerned!

12. We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of handbags!

WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

A social enterprise has as its central objective, a social or environmental purpose, and not the obsession with profits. Yes, of course we want to be profitable, but it is so we can hire even more people in unfortunate circumstances, and offer them a shot at a better life, and not because we want to "increase shareholder value" or for the sake of lining our personal pockets. In fact, the only foreign staff (and founder/funder) does not get a salary from Bloom.

At Bloom, our mission is to alleviate poverty and save the environment at the same time, through our recycled bags.

As a social enterprise in Cambodia, we are competing with many NGOs on the one hand (which get donations) and for want of a better word, capitalistic businesses (which drive down costs in an effort to maximise profits). We recognise and accept the challenges that face all business, but are committed to principles of Fair Play, and will NEVER sacrifice those principles in order to be competitive. This means, for instance, we will never sacrifice workers' pay just so our bags will be cheaper. The average pay at Bloom today is 2.13 times the market rate.

So please, before you ask us to discount our bags, remember that we are not a minimum wage factory; we are a social enterprise. If you want a cheap factory-made bag, Bloom is not what you are looking for. If you agree that workers (where-ever they are--Singapore, Germany, France, the US) should always be paid fairly and are not here to produce goods and services at low wages for the profit of big business, then please consider Bloom. Bloom bags are all hand-made by our small team who spend our working hours dreaming up and making bags.

All Bloom profits go to our Khmer staff and to growing Bloom. Ultimately the aim is for Bloom to be a workers' cooperative, where workers own, manage, grow the business and share the profits.

WHO WE ARE

Bloom is a social enterprise established in Sept 2006 with the intention of providing fair-paying jobs to abandoned, widowed and divorced Cambodian women. Bloom is not a factory. We are a small workshop of nine people who work closely as a team to produce original, quality handmade bags made from recycled rice and fish feed bags.

Every Bloom Bag is meticulously designed, cut, glued and sewn by the Bloom team in our workshop in Phnom Penh. Each bag is handmade with love and attention to detail (the Bloom team really enjoys making bags!), resulting in beautiful, unique bags we are sure you will love and your friends will want!

All Bloom Bags are handmade by our team. We do not outsource to other sewers because we want to be in control of the supply chain, to ensure that everyone involved in making a Bloom Bag is paid fairly. There is no middleman taking a cut and passing on the work to another.

Please Visit Bloom's new workshop off Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh and our retail outlets. Bloom is next to Warehouse Pub in the Old Market Area in Siem Reap and at No.808 Russian Market, Phnom Penh.

Friday, October 31, 2008

iPhone adoption rates highest among lower-income

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