iPhone China 'Flop' Is Anything But

If Apple's (AAPL - commentary - Trade Now) launch in China is such a bust, why is the stock going up? Why is China Unicom (CHU - commentary - Trade Now) going up? Shouldn't they be clobbered here? Shouldn't the "tepid" reception of the iPhone in the biggest market in the world mean that it is time to sell Apple?

Here's what I think. They priced the iPhone wrong. They priced it at the equivalent of $1,000. That's just wrong. AT&T (T - commentary - Trade Now) pays $600 per phone for iPhone and then charges very little for the product -- that's how you get the blowout in sales.

But people haves short memories. Apple first priced this phone wrong in this country. Once the company and AT&T adjusted, sales exploded and the "flop" became a hit.

Meanwhile we just crossed 100,000 applications for the iPhone, and the growth is viral.

Apple's always been a smart, consumer-driven company that prices things properly ... eventually. We don't have the right pricing yet. When we do, the company will double share from 3% to 6% for cell phones, and the stock will go much higher.

The China pricing is a speed bump that looks already to be conquered. That says everything you need to know, and CHU is the confirmation.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long China Mobile.

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