Another lost in translation story for you.

As of yet, Apple has not chosen Chinese names for their iTunes franchise.  If you visit the Chinese iTunes website, you’ll see a very obvious prevalence of English.  All brand names (iPod nano, iTunes, Outlook, Windows) remain in their original language.

Why?  It seems to me like Apple is making a couple of assumptions.  One, anyone interested in buying an iPod can read the English alphabet.  Two, leaving the brand names in English will help create a stronger brand name in China than a Chinese brand name.

I’m sure Apple put some thought into this. And I would agree that the vast majority of Chinese who have the means to buy an iPod can read at least a little English.  But some problems have arisen from the iPod’s English-ness.  The Chinese, though they can read the name “iPod” on billboards and advertisements, can’t really pronounce it.  It seems like the common Chinese weakness of strong written English and weak spoken English strikes again.  Because of this weakness, the Chinese have come up with their own pronunciation of iPod.  So far, it seems like “易破的” is the most popular pronunciation.  Yi-Po-De, which literally translated, means, “easy-broken-the.”  Soooo, the whole positive English brand name idea seems to have unwittingly turned into a joke!  And that’s not all.  The popular new phenomenon, Podcasting, also does not have a Chinese name.  So, the Chinese have come up with their own names for podcasting, which are many and varied—and all of these names have nothing to do with the iPod or Apple.  Apple is losing the free advertising that comes with having “Pod” being a part of Podcasting.

All I can say is that Apple has made a mistake here.  Though the Chinese can read and recognize their English brand names, when it gets down to the streets, Apple is losing their influence in the conversations of the Chinese.

Solution?  At least in hindsight, recognize that though the Chinese will read your English brand names, they will talk about them in Chinese, and if you don’t provide a positive Chinese name for your product, the Chinese will make up something like “easily broken” for you.