China posts

According to M.I.C Gadget, Apple is canceling online iPhone 4 orders in Hong Kong in an attempt to thwart would-be resellers.

Recently, customers have either had their existing orders canceled or been prevented from placing new orders. Many shoppers received this email from Apple:

Despite the iPhone's official release in China, a grey market continues to thrive. So much so that shoppers are buying units from Apple for private resale in such large quantity, that Apple had to temporarily down the Beijing Apple Store.

According to M.I.C Gadget, the trouble started when Apple lifted the 2-per-customer restriction at the Beijing store. People were buying up to 30 iPhones at a time, which they would privately resell for a profit. In fact, many were selling right outside the store. Things got out of hand as the crowd quickly swelled and scuffles broke out between the mass-quantity buyers and individuals looking for a single phone. Security eventually shut the store down.

Within hours, the store re-opened with a new policy. Customers must show ID when making a purchase. They may purchase only 1 iPhone at a time, which will be unboxed and activated in the store by an employee before the customer is allowed to leave. This policy has now been extended to all four of China's Apple Stores.

Considering the high demand and extreme shortage of iPhones in China, it's understandable how a grey market develops. This was an unfortunate circumstance. Good on Apple Store security and management for addressing it in a timely fashion.

After four days of availability, China Unicom (CU) has sold 100,000 iPhone 4s in China (here are some photos from launch day). Pre-orders began on September 16th, and CU reported earlier this week that 200,000 orders were taken. Today, all online reservations have come to a halt. Customers must be physically present at a retail store to buy one. For now, the iPhone 4 is outselling the iPhone 3GS many times over.

Phones bought through China Unicom require a two year service contract. However, the phone is also available contract-free at Apple stores.

Liu Liang, an analyst with consulting group iResearch, commented on the iPhone's popularity."The level of smartphone usage is hitting a new level in China," he said. "A lot of users no longer want to use these older phones with few features and instead want to buy the latest models like the iPhone."

The iPad was also met with enthusiasm in China, though sales figures are not yet available.

Our favorite blogger in China, Maik Lutze of SuddenlyBeijing.com, has provided TUAW with exclusive photos from the official Chinese iPhone 4 launch this morning (9/25). Not only were there lines for the iPhone 4, but there was a new Apple Store being opened in Beijing at Xidan's Joy City today, so he provided photos of the crowds on had for the opening:

This is the second Apple Store in Beijing, the first being the Sanitun store. Maik provided a batch of photos for TUAW of the iPhone 4 lines at this store as well:

The second Apple retail location in Shanghai also opened today. The new Huaihai Lu Apple Store is a two-story structure with the only curved window front of any Apple Store. Apple is really booming in the Chinese market, with a third Beijing store planned for Qianmen Street that will open this fall.

[Shanghai store information via Shanghaiist.com, Beijing store info via Asia Blog]

In a Sunday press release, Apple announced an on-sale date for the iPhone 4 in China. Saturday, September 25, 8 am is when customers in the world's largest market can get their hands on the new phones; both the Apple Store Hong Kong Plaza in Shanghai and the Apple Store Xidan Joy City in Beijing will be carrying them, coinciding with the opening of the Bejing store.

China Unicom (the phone's domestic carrier) will also be selling them in retail stores. Just as in other countries, new purchases via China Unicom will require a two year service contract; however, the phone will also be available contract-free at the Apple stores.

Suggested retail price for the phone is CNY4,999 (around $744) for the 16GB model and 5,999 yen (about $893) for the 32GB model (contract-free pricing; China Unicom pricing includes service plan prepayments, and it's available here). China Unicom has been accepting pre-orders for a few days now.

[hat tip to @Khaled]

As you can see in the video above, China finally got the iPad (officially) this week, and Mac fans there were pretty excited about it. The device went on sale this morning at the Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai, and hundreds of people stood in the rain -- one man was there waiting for two days. He's the guy in the "I buy iPad" t-shirt, I think, and good for him; looks like it worked out all right.

Only the Wi-Fi models are on sale so far, 5588 yuan (US $826) for 64gb, 4788 yuan ($712) and 3988 yuan ($590) for 16gb. iPads have been available in China so far only through the "gray market," unauthorized resellers from other countries. Early reports from the stores say that the iPad is selling better than the iPhone first did there, which is good news for Apple. It's been hoping to gain a much better foothold in China recently, so a big release for the iPad is a nice step in that direction.

Apple has announced that the iPad will be officially launched in five Latin American countries and China tomorrow, September 17, 2010.

The über-popular iPad will be available in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru starting tomorrow. In China, the Wi-Fi model is launching, while the Wi-Fi + 3G is listed on the online Chinese Apple Store as "Coming Soon."

TUAW also received a number of tips this morning that U.S. electronics retailer Micro Center is beginning to sell iPads in a number of locations. Recent rumors also point to mega-retailers Target and Walmart selling the iPad before the critical Christmas buying season.

With the influx of new markets and retailers, it's a good thing Apple is ramping up production of iPads.

[via AppleInsider]

Earlier today, Apple announced that the Wi-Fi enabled iPad will be available to customers in China via Apple Stores and authorized resellers on September 17th at 10:00 AM. Let the line ups begin!

As we saw in the US and elsewhere, Apple Store employees will offer a free setup service to anyone who buys an iPad in an Apple Store on launch day. This includes email setup, finding apps and so on. You know, the kind of stuff your relatives are always asking you to do.

iPad Wi-Fi pricing in China will be as follows: CNY3988 (US$590 as of this writing) for 16GB, CNY4788 ($710) for 32GB and CNY5588 for 64GB ($830).

You'll remember last month when the iPad received the China Compulsory Certification from the China Quality Certification Center, the first official stamp of approval it needed before being OK'd for sale. Apple had trouble bringing the iPhone to the Chinese market, when wireless devices were required to use China's own WAPI standard. Today, devices are allowed to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi.

If you buy one of these iPads in China, let us know!

[Via MacDailyNews]

The recent issues at Foxconn haven't actually slowed the company down, apparently -- it has announced that it will be hiring 400,000 more workers at new plants in China, thanks to a 50 percent increase in revenue lately. The total number of people working at Foxconn will be estimated at 1.3 million. Just for comparison's sake, GM employed about 244,500 last year. Foxconn is moving almost that many workers out of its Shenzhen plant -- 170,000 of those workers will be sent to plants closer to their homes.

It's crazy to think what the company must be like -- not only are they handling ungodly amounts of people making ungodly amounts of electronic devices, but they're doing it mostly for American companies like Apple, Dell, HP, and so on. This is the giant machine that's pushing out all of those iPhones and Macs that Apple is breaking sales records with. Hopefully the new plants and relocations will help all of the issues that employees there have had in the past.

On Monday, the iPad moved one small step closer to the Chinese market when it received the China Compulsory Certification from the China Quality Certification Center. Other certifications will be necessary, but this important first step has been taken.

The Chinese government will ultimately determine if and when the device is sold. Before that happens, it will be subject to other regulating bodies like China's Telecommunications Equipment and Certification Center.

Liu Liang with the consulting group iResearch suggests that the iPad would sell well in China, despite competition from other devices. "The iPad is a top tier device," he said, "and the Apple brand has a great deal of influence among consumers."

You'll remember the trouble Apple had before bringing the iPhone to the Chinese market. Initially, wireless devices were required to use China's own WAPI standard, a measure that was relaxed earlier this year, when devices were allowed to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi. Since then, the iPhone has gone on to sell very well.

Apple has not announced formal plans to sell the iPad in China, but (slow) progress is being made. Here's hoping our friends in China can get their hands on iPads soon.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that Foxconn subsidiary Futaihua Precision Electronics will build a new facility in central China's Henan provice that will primarily produce the iPhone.

Xinhua says that more than 500 employees are already working a temporary site rented from the Zhengzhou city government. Factory construction will start on August 20 and is expected to be operational in a year. Xinhua says the site will reportedly produce $13 billion (U.S.) worth of products for export, make about 200,000 phones per day and will employ nearly 200,000 workers, most of whom are expected to be from the Henan province.

We reported about Foxconn's earlier raises to its workers after reports of sucides among its workers. At the time, Foxconn said that it planned to distribute Apple production among new facilities in other areas of China.

[Via Electronista]

Some rumors from last May that Apple was paying a part of the salary of workers in the Foxconn assembly plant have been denied by the giant Taiwan electronics company.

A report in DigiTimes today quotes a Foxconn executive as saying the "rumor is purely speculation and Foxconn has never received any subsidies from Apple."

We've previously reported that Foxconn has started to give substantial pay raises to employees after a spate of publicity about suicides at the Foxconn plant. the company also says it is going to move some of the Apple product production to new facilities in other parts of China.

[Via MacRumors]

We've heard great things already about the brand new Apple Store in Shanghai, but this one's interesting: on the back of employees' t-shirts there (which are red, apparently, rather than the usual black found in North America), Apple has printed "Designed in California, Made for China" in Chinese. That's obviously a play on the "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China" that you'll find on the back of your iPhone and many of Apple's other products.

Cult of Mac checked in with Chinese gadget blogger Chris Chang, and he says that the reference does play in Shanghai. He was at the store when it opened, and says that Apple is definitely pushing to do better in China, and create more of a presence there. That's really interesting -- Apple's not only trying to simply sell its products over there, but it's actually localizing the brand a bit to do so.

Now that Apple has held a pre-opening of Shanghai's first Apple Store (China's second) for the press, we can finally get a look inside. Shanghaiist has published a great article about the store, complete with a large photo gallery. Here are some incredible facts about this new location:

• The cylinder (40 feet high) contains the largest curved glass panels in the world
• There are more hands-on gadgets to play with than any other Apple Store (but no iPads or iPhone 4s yet)
• It's one of the largest Apple Stores
• It's got one of the largest Genius Bars

Several new Apple Stores either opened or are set to open this weekend. Here's a look at what's going on.

In Shanghai, China, the curtains have been removed from the huge glass structure that sits atop the city's new flagship store. Flickr user Lesh51 has posted some great shots of the removal process. You can plainly see the cylinder itself, the familiar Apple logo, and the interior spiral staircase that leads to the underground retail space. His aerial shots offer an overview of this store's dramatic location. This store will open this Saturday at 10:00 AM local time.

Meanwhile, the Opéra Store in Paris is finally open, and it's a stunner. The layout, both inside and out, differs dramatically from what we typically see. Here's a gallery of photos that show off this beautiful space. Even Steve showed up to check it out. Enjoy Paris, Steve!

Here in the States, Apple Store, Haywood Mall is set to open in Greenville, SC this Saturday. It will be South Carolina's second Apple Store and the 295th store opened overall. It's located in the Haywood Mall, at 700 Haywood Road, in Greenville. You'll find it on the lower level of the Sears wing, next to Abercrombie & Fitch. Doors open at 10:00 AM local time.