Apple launches Online Store, App Store in China
Apple launched Tuesday its online Apple Store for China alongside a Simplified Chinese-language version of the App Store, as part of its efforts to strengthen its brand in the Chinese market.
Apple announced the double launch in a press release late Tuesday. Despite having four successful retail stores in China, the Chinese Apple website, apple.com.cn, had lacked a digital storefront.
?We are thrilled to open our newest online store in China,? said Apple COO Tim Cook. ?With personalized engraving, configure-to-order options and free shipping on everything, the Apple Store is a great destination for our customers in China.?
With free shipping, personalized engraving, and a gift wrapping option, the China online Apple store is ready for the holiday season. The store will also "let eligible students and faculty members take advantage of special education pricing on Apple products."
An image posted to China's Apple website promoted the new online store with an image of an iPhone, iPad, and iPod nano dressed up as traditional Chinese lanterns. "The online store has appeared in China," the promotional graphic said.
Just a day after beginning to offer free iPad engraving from its U.S. online store, Apple is now allowing Chinese customers to personalize their iPads with two lines of engraved Chinese text.
Customers can now directly purchase the iPhone online, instead of having to first reserve the device and schedule a pick-up time. In recent weeks, Apple retail stores have struggled to keep the iPhone 4 in stock, with scalpers quickly snatching them up and then selling the smartphones right outside the store.
The China App Store will now offer "localized featured apps and charts of the most popular paid and free apps in China," in addition to the over 300,000 apps that are available.
A Chinese-language App Store has been long overdue, given the hundreds of thousands of new iPhone users from September's iPhone 4 launch in China through China Unicom. To get apps on their new iPhones, Chinese users previously either navigated the App Store in English or turned to pirate websites that allow users to install unauthorized software for free. Presumably, Apple hopes a localized app store will curb app piracy in China while further capitalizing on the growing Chinese smartphone market.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple's requirement of a dual-currency credit card to make App Store purchases from China is still a hurdle for would-be Chinese customers. An Apple spokeswoman told the Journal that payment requirements for the Chinese App Store remained unchanged.
Apple announced the double launch in a press release late Tuesday. Despite having four successful retail stores in China, the Chinese Apple website, apple.com.cn, had lacked a digital storefront.
?We are thrilled to open our newest online store in China,? said Apple COO Tim Cook. ?With personalized engraving, configure-to-order options and free shipping on everything, the Apple Store is a great destination for our customers in China.?
With free shipping, personalized engraving, and a gift wrapping option, the China online Apple store is ready for the holiday season. The store will also "let eligible students and faculty members take advantage of special education pricing on Apple products."
An image posted to China's Apple website promoted the new online store with an image of an iPhone, iPad, and iPod nano dressed up as traditional Chinese lanterns. "The online store has appeared in China," the promotional graphic said.
Just a day after beginning to offer free iPad engraving from its U.S. online store, Apple is now allowing Chinese customers to personalize their iPads with two lines of engraved Chinese text.
Customers can now directly purchase the iPhone online, instead of having to first reserve the device and schedule a pick-up time. In recent weeks, Apple retail stores have struggled to keep the iPhone 4 in stock, with scalpers quickly snatching them up and then selling the smartphones right outside the store.
The China App Store will now offer "localized featured apps and charts of the most popular paid and free apps in China," in addition to the over 300,000 apps that are available.
A Chinese-language App Store has been long overdue, given the hundreds of thousands of new iPhone users from September's iPhone 4 launch in China through China Unicom. To get apps on their new iPhones, Chinese users previously either navigated the App Store in English or turned to pirate websites that allow users to install unauthorized software for free. Presumably, Apple hopes a localized app store will curb app piracy in China while further capitalizing on the growing Chinese smartphone market.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple's requirement of a dual-currency credit card to make App Store purchases from China is still a hurdle for would-be Chinese customers. An Apple spokeswoman told the Journal that payment requirements for the Chinese App Store remained unchanged.
Comments
Glad to see they have a place to get localized software so that they don't all jailbreak the phones and copy software willy-nilly. (Probably not a PC thing to say but Asia does seem to have a reputation for such things in the past.)
Here's the full Financial Times interview: http://bit.ly/9Vj9K8
Remember a few months ago when Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Lenovo, said this in an interview? Well, I would say that he and his company are officially in trouble now. Big trouble.
Here's the full Financial Times interview: http://bit.ly/9Vj9K8
The Apple Jaganath rolls right along.....
(Oh, in case you're wondering about my spelling, for the record, it's the Brits who got the spelling wrong......
With about 96% of China's population living in neither Beijing nor Shanghai, this should dramatically increase sales in China.
Although to be fair, 96% of the population in China live in poverty and can't afford the iPhone anyways.
Although to be fair, 96% of the population in China live in poverty and can't afford the iPhone anyways.
China has more millionaires than the USA. The "second rich" generation has no problem spending cash and Apple products is the hot thing to own now.
Let Nokia take care of the poor.
I stand corrected. Not as many as the US:
http://www.hurun.net/listreleaseen451.aspx
The ability to buy music and rent movies would be nice too. I really don't like to pirate.
Although to be fair, 96% of the population in China live in poverty and can't afford the iPhone anyways.
This is a classic ignorant rant from another American who is clueless about what goes on in the rest of the world. (By the way, I'm an American living in China.) China, and the Chinese, have amassed a tremendous amount of wealth and there is a SIZABLE middle and upper class here.( What really strikes an outsider as the unbelievable number of Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes on the roads.)
The biggest problem Apple has in China is overcoming the Microsucks effect. That is, the Chinese are afraid to download apps to their computers (and iPhones) for fear of getting a virus. Further, although Macs are very popular here, many, if not most, of the users are only running Windoze on them because they don't really understand the advantages of the Apple OS. Apple has a lot of work to do to educate this market.
With about 96% of China's population living in neither Beijing nor Shanghai, this should dramatically increase sales in China.
China 1,321,290,000
Beijing 10,123,000
Shanghai 13,831,900
The Apple Jaganath rolls right along.....
(Oh, in case you're wondering about my spelling, for the record, it's the Brits who got the spelling wrong......
Hah. And do you think we could get more people to say 'pundit' instead of 'pundent'? I've even seen it spelled that way (gasp) here.
This is a classic ignorant rant from another American who is clueless about what goes on in the rest of the world. (By the way, I'm an American living in China.) China, and the Chinese, have amassed a tremendous amount of wealth and there is a SIZABLE middle and upper class here.( What really strikes an outsider as the unbelievable number of Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes on the roads.)
it is not just america, this problem exists across all western countries. the only information about china to general public in these countries are via their media, who are biased toward china and only care china's ideology. the irony is that all most all of elites in those countries realized china's importance while general public are not. only when china's money come to rescue their countries, general public start to panic because they thought red commies are taking over capitalism. about that currency issue from china? it is so pathetic that those western politicians failed miserably in their domestic policy and then they diverted their responsibilities for the failure to china's currency.
The biggest problem Apple has in China is overcoming the Microsucks effect. That is, the Chinese are afraid to download apps to their computers (and iPhones) for fear of getting a virus. Further, although Macs are very popular here, many, if not most, of the users are only running Windoze on them because they don't really understand the advantages of the Apple OS. Apple has a lot of work to do to educate this market.
with iphone and ipad starting to get into chinese hands, soon they realize that macintosh as a computing platform is better, if not the best. apple can use iphone's or apple's halo effect to get chinese onto the bandwagon.
trying to pitch MS is bad while apple is better failed in china. to teach chinese how to use mac is moot point because any one can use mac without much efforts. i think apple should use sculley's pepsi approach to brand people using iphone/mac are different from others.
Oh, I get it now.... simplified characters.... mmmkay.