iTunes Archives ~ Business China : news for investors in China

SMARTPHONES: Bookstore Shutdown Clouds Apple’s China Blitz

By newsdoug on April 25, 2016

It seems that all the goodwill in China garnered by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook wasn’t enough to prevent the company from hitting a major new roadblock, with word that its book and movie services have been blocked in the country. The move nicely illustrates 2 faces of Beijing that sometimes seem contradictory. On the one hand, Chinese leaders crave the attention they get when global leaders like Cook visit China and pay due respect to the market. But on the other, they have little tolerance for anyone who violates the country’s strict censorship rules.

Buzz is now centering on whether Apple will be able to somehow bring its book and movie services into compliance with new Chinese rules rolled out last month, allowing the services to resume. If this were Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) running into similar problems, I would say the answer would be “no”, since the company has little goodwill with Beijing. But Apple has invested heavily to win the favor of Beijing leaders, meaning it’s likely to get a more sympathetic ear, probably after personal intervention by Cook himself. Read Full Post…

SMARTPHONES: Apple Goes to War With China’s Pirates

By newsdoug on October 6, 2015

Bottom line: Apple’s new drive to sell legal music, books and video in China stands a reasonably good chance of success, banking on consumers’ growing willingness to pay for such products if they are convenient and affordably priced.

Following the record-breaking debut for its iPhone 6s models, tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is taking a big new risk by attempting something no one has done yet successfully: making profits from selling legal music and movies in China. The move was part of a newly announced major expansion of Apple’s online store in its second largest global market. But while Chinese consumers have shown a big willingness to pay huge premiums for iPhones, it’s far from clear they’ll do the same for movies and music that they can usually download for free.

Apple sold a record 13 million iPhone 6s models worldwide in their first weekend on sale, easily beating the previous record of 10 million for the iPhone 6 models. China was an important factor in achieving the new record, since the iPhone 6 wasn’t available here during the first weekend of its global launch due to technical reasons. Apple hasn’t given any individual country figures yet, but it’s probably safe to assume it sold at least 3 million of the new iPhones in China during their opening weekend. Read Full Post…

News Digest: October 1-5, 2015

By newsdoug on October 5, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 1-5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Brings Apple Music, iTunes Movies & iBooks to Customers in China (Businesswire)
Didi President Liu Qing Confirms Breast Cancer, Says Work Unaffected (Chinese article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) to Restructure Payments for Mid-Term Notes Due Oct 13 (English article)
Twentieth Century Fox Creates New China Managing Director Position (Businesswire)
Shuttle Bus App ‘Dada Bus‘ Wins 200 Mln Yuan Series B Funding (English article)

Apple Prepares to Take on China Pirates 苹果开始接受人民币付款购买应用软件

By newsdoug on November 21, 2011

Apple: gearing up for China iTunes launch? The latest signals from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) indicate it may be preparing to tackle the China piracy machine by offering legal music online, hoping to succeed where years of government effort from both the West and Beijing have largely failed. According to media reports, Apple has just begun accepting payments in yuan for apps downloads from its Chinese iTunes store. (English article; Chinese article) The move should provide an instant boost to Apple’s China business, as millions of Chinese who use iPhones and iPads will now be able to easily download apps for both devices. But from my perspective, the much more interesting and intriguing question is whether Apple is using this move as a precursor to making its core iTunes music store available to Chinese consumers. Techies will recall that Apple’s original iTunes store dealt a major blow to online music piracy in the United States several years ago when it began offering a wide range of legally-obtained tunes from most major music labels for reasonable prices of about $1 per song download. Apple’s breakthrough was followed by the opening of similar online stores, resulting in a sharp reduction in illegal online music swapping as consumers opted for better quality, reasonably priced legal copies of their favorite music. If Apple does indeed launch an iTunes music store in China, the big question, of course will be whether or not it can succeed. The answer in my view would be “probably,” with perhaps a 70 percent chance of success. Like their American counterparts, most young Chinese do have some spending money that they regularly use to buy the latest trendy clothes and personal care products and go to the movies. There’s no reason they wouldn’t spend some of that money on music downloads as well if the situation was right. The key to success a China iTunes store will be pricing. The $1-per-tune price tag may be a bit high for the average Chinese youngster, meaning Apple may have to accept a reduced amount for any China iTunes offering. But the big music labels would no doubt be happy to get any money they can from the China market, and I could see iTunes offering Chinese music downloads for 3-4 yuan each, or 40-60 cents, which could easily prove acceptable to consumers.

Bottom line: Apple’s new acceptance of yuan for its China apps store looks like a precursor for the opening of an iTunes music store, which would have a good chance of success.