Apple today launched Apple Music, iTunes Movies and iBooks in China.
As with the U.S., Chinese customers are being treated to a three-month free trial for Apple Music. After this, the subscription service will cost a very reasonable 10 yuan ($1.57) per month — just one-sixth of what customers in the U.S. pay for the service.
The new camera on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have already been put to the test in the fashion world, and on the baseball diamond, and now ahead of the device’s release tomorrow, National Geographic is showing fans what the new 12MP sensor can do when it replaces your entire camera bag.
National Geographic sent Mark Leong to the Chinese city of Sanjiang to retrace the first road trip that set the tone for his career as a professional photographer. Instead of lugging around his DSLR and suitcase of extra gear though, Leong was only allowed to shoot with the iPhone 6s Plus, which he says turned out to be ‘incredibly liberating.’
Take a look at some of the stunning images he captured:
Apple is taking steps to avoid a repeat of this week’s serious XcodeGhost incident — in which hundreds of App Store apps were discovered to include malware in the form of a counterfeit version of Xcode, the platform used by developers to build their apps.
Apple Pay is a bit closer to making its debut in China — thanks to a new company, Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd., which Apple has set up to operate in the Shanghai free-trade zone with the express purpose of running its mobile payment service.
Apple has reportedly seeded the new company with registered capital of $13.4 million, and names Apple’s VP and corporate treasurer Gary Joseph Wipfler as its legal representative and chairman.
China seems to have a bit of a problem with certain members of the population trying to trade vital organs for Apple’s next-gen iPhone 6s.
Responding to this, a local sperm bank at Renji Hospital in Shanghai is offering donors the cash to buy Apple’s new handset in exchange for a sperm sample.
“No need to sell your kidneys – you can easily have a 6s,” the hospital writes in an online posting.
That’s advice worth living by!
How much do you want an iPhone 6s? Probably not as much as the two men in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province who reportedly attempted to sell their kidneys to buy Apple’s latest must-have handset.
The bizarre story claims that friends Wu and Huang decided to sell a kidney each to get the money for an iPhone (mistake No. 1), and found an illegal agent on the Internet (mistake No. 2) who would help them.
Apple is still being pretty cagey about exactly how many Apple Watches it has sold since the wearable premiered in April, but a new report suggests that the device is doing just fine in the all-important Chinese market.
Shanghai-based research company RedTech Advisors estimates that China has more than 1 million Apple Watches in use, and it reached this number in a mere 17 weeks.
You might remember that on Monday, AAPL stock had a bit of a bad day before rebounding. It wasn’t just a bad day for Apple stock, though: Fueled by fears of a total collapse of the Chinese stock market, the whole S&P 500 collapsed that day.
In the first 24 hours, only Apple rebounded. It’s proof positive of Apple’s fabled “reality distortion field.”
It’s not a good start to the week for Apple, as shares fell below the $100 mark even before the market opened.
Seeing investors panicking, Tim Cook shared a few thoughts with CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer — particularly reassuring him about Apple’s continued success in China, which Cook continues to be bullish on due to its “unprecedented” opportunities.
China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan is likely to have a massive impact on Apple and its suppliers.
China devalued its currency in an attempt to boost a flagging economy — resulting in the country’s biggest one-day loss in 20 years.
And while some will be celebrating, others (likely including Tim Cook) can’t be too happy about it!
Apple business may be soaring in China, but not all of it is the legit kind!
According to a new report, police in Beijing have busted a factory which produced in excess of 41,000 fake iPhones, with a market value of around $19 million.
When it comes to app downloads, China and Mexico surged in the first fiscal quarter of 2015, says a report by the mobile analysts at App Annie.
China took the top spot for iOS downloads while Mexico now ranks among the top five countries for Google Play downloads, surpassing South Korea this quarter.
While we’ve seen Google Play lead the number of downloads across the globe and iOS facing a shrinking lead in revenue, Q1 2015 showed a huge jump for iOS in terms of revenue, to the tune of about 70 percent more (up from 60 percent higher in Q3 2014). Google Play continues to be top dog in downloads, though, with 70 percent more downloads than Apple’s digital storefront.
The iPhone’s standby mode is coming under fire from the state-controlled media in China, which released a new report claiming Apple’s smartphone is stealing data from customers.
Hong Kong import and export lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong has embarrassed himself after being snapped viewing sexy pics on his iPhone during an important parliamentary debate. Because, you know, helping decide the entire future of Hong Kong isn’t exciting enough!
Crazily enough, Wong is far from the first high-profile politician to be caught using his Apple product inappropriately.
In a Chinese-language interview, Tim Cook has revealed how Apple considers Chinese consumer tastes into account when designing any new products.
Given that Cook has previously talked about how China will soon overtake the U.S. as Apple’s biggest market this is unlikely to surprise many readers, but it’s another reminder of just how important the Chinese market is for Apple.
Apple unveiled the next generation of iOS this week, and while many of us here in the US are stoked about features like Power Save Mode, smarter Siri search, and improved Maps, users in China are getting excited about one new feature that went virtually unmentioned: VPN.
Apple supplier Foxconn has come under fire over the last few years for its factories’ working conditions in China, but the company is now making plans to open up a new Apple plant in one of the world’s other booming nations: India.
Tim Cook just finished a week-long tour of China, complete with stops at new Apple Stores across the country, as well as a visit to the elementary school at Communication University of China, and a meeting with China’s Vice Premier.
Cook created a Weibo account earlier this week to announce Apple’s new green initiatives in China, but the Apple CEO didn’t stop there. Rather than posting to Twitter, Cook stayed active on the Chinese microblogging all week, posting his interactions with customers and colleagues. In just five days, Tim has amassed over half a million Weibo followers (he’s got 1.3 million on Twitter) by keeping Chinese fans updated with seven posts during the trip.
Take a look at Tim’s awesome Weibo travelogue:
The Apple Watch is expected to do big things in China — with even the high-end Apple Watch Edition selling out within its first hour of preorders in the country — but one place the company’s debut wearable device won’t take off is the Chinese army.
That’s according to a recently released memo in which Chinese military leaders argue that wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers are sure to compromise soldiers’ security.
Tim Cook’s visiting Beijing at the moment and, when he’s not posting from popular micro-blogging network Weibo, he’s meeting with some pretty high-powered people.
Among them is Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong, who Cook met with on Tuesday to discuss how Apple can do more to promote scientific and educational cooperation between China and the United States.
As part of new environmental initiatives, Apple is funding a five year project to manage 1 million acres of forests across China — and Tim Cook has set up an account on the popular Chinese microblogging service Weibo to announce it.
Apple is closing in on becoming the number one smartphone company in China, according to new figures released by Strategy Analytics.
Although Apple ripoff Xiaomi remains in the number one position — thanks to its strategy of selling low-cost devices — analysts note that the company’s momentum is starting to slow down, while Apple’s just keeps on building!
Samsung, by comparison, fell to an embarrassing fourth place after Huawei.
Tim Cook has been staunchly outspoken in his belief that it’s only a matter of time before China overtakes the U.S. as Apple’s biggest customer.
According to a new report from app analytics company App Annie, that benchmark has now been passed when it comes to app downloads — with China leading the way in the first quarter of 2015.
But which country is winning in the all-important revenue generating category?
Tim Cook has described making Apple Pay available in China “top of the list” in terms of his priorities. Sadly, it seems he’s going to have to wait a bit longer until that dream becomes a reality.
That’s because, despite beginning conversations with China’s eight major banks last year, Apple’s discussions have apparently not gone well — as Chinese banks have been reticent about letting the Cupertino company eat into their existing profits.
April 24 isn’t just about the Apple Watch. If you live in China, it’s also the day on which the second brick-and-mortar Apple Store opens in Hangzhou — following hot on the heels of the recently-opened gorgeous West Lake store in the city’s Shangcheng District.
The new store is located in the city’s Jianggan District, in a MixC mall that is also home to a number of high-end brand stores and upmarket eateries.