sales posts

Just 24 hours into business, China's first online Apple Store has sold its entire stock of iPhone 4s. Writing for The Global Times, Wang Xinyuan says, "Apple Inc's new online Chinese-language store was a big hit with consumers Wednesday after it sold out its entire stock of iPhone 4s on the first day."

Apple hopes to tap into China's fast-growing online shopping market, which saw business of 120 billion yuan (about US$17.91 billion as of this writing) worth of transactions in the third quarter of this year.

More importantly, Apple hopes the online store will further thwart the gray market that has been a consistent problem in China. Supply shortages and the prestige of owning the device have created a large network of unauthorized resellers. Recently, Apple Store security was required to temporarily close a Beijing Apple Store and adopt a one-per-customer policy when customers began to purchase iPhones in bulk and re-sell them right outside of the store.

As for the online store, The Global Times reports that its stock will not be immediately replenished, and is encouraging customers to check back often for updates.

[Via MacDailyNews]

1. Nokia
2. Samsung
3. LG Electronics
4. Apple
5. RIM
6. SonyEricsson

Sprint recently noticed an increase in sales of its Overdrive (3g/4g) MiFi wireless hotspot, and it seems the iPad is behind it all. In an interview with GigaOM, Sprint's chief executive officer, Dan Hesse, noted that most iPads sold are Wi-Fi only. Since their introduction, his company has seen an increase in sales of the Overdrive.

When asked about the iPhone, Hess refused comment, stating that Sprint policy is to refrain from commenting on its relationship with vendors. He also noted that Sprint is banking its future on great customer experience, a simple value proposition and finally the actual devices (in that order). Currently, Sprint is carrying BlackBerry and Android phones, while arch-rival Verizon is almost a lock to be selling the iPhone next year.

Meanwhile, Verizon is addressing the iPad-plus-hotspot trend directly by offering iPad/MiFi bundles in its retail stores. For those who want to support an iPad in addition to a few other devices, it's not a bad way to go.

MacStories has heard an interesting rumor: that Apple's recent work in location-based networking and "check-in" software will be used inside of Apple's retail stores, specifically to provide better service from employees there. Not a lot is known yet (and MacStories doesn't reveal the source of the info, though presumably it comes from someone who works in or with Apple retail), but the rumor says that Apple would provide an app that's specifically designed to help coordinate the experience of visiting an Apple Store. A customer could check in and set up appointments directly from the app, get push notifications, and even see photos of employees assigned to help them. Employees could also use the app to track customers in the store and receive information about what they were there for.

It all sounds very interesting -- we know for a fact that Apple employees went through some training just recently for the upcoming holiday season, so this app could have been one of the topics discussed. Something like this would definitely streamline things at the Apple Store, and move from the very ad hoc way of splitting up customers and employees to a more directed kind of connection. We'll have to see what Apple reveals as we move closer to this year's holiday sales season.

Despite Apple's insistence that it is a mobile device company, it turns out that the Mac category is far from done growing. A new study from the Enterprise Desktop Alliance says that 2011 is set to be a huge year for Mac on the enterprise level, with reportedly 25 percent of all new systems in that category being Macs. That would be astonishing, and would move the Mac from the current figure of 3.3 percent of enterprise systems up to 5 percent. All of this growth, says the EDA, will primarily come from companies who have already chosen Apple's technology for their systems -- they'll just be buying more of it.

Why all the growth? Most of the respondents said that "parity in integration and management between Macs and PCs" was the biggest deal for them, and certainly Apple has moved strongly in that direction recently, with the switch to Intel chips and more compatible software than ever. Businesses also cited security as a concern, and while it's not specifically mentioned in the report, you have to believe that the huge emergence of the iPhone and the iPad in the business world has done something to drive adoption of the Mac in that environment as well.

Last Saturday, we posted this video of the band Atomic Tom singing with their iPhones on the B train over the East River. Since then, the video has gone viral, nabbing more than a million views on YouTube. But the band isn't the only group benefiting from the attention -- we heard from the developers of iShred, the guitar app seen in the video, and apparently just being seen in the video has had a huge effect for them as well. The app has jumped from #84 to #4 on the App Store music app charts, and has reached the #65 app overall.

That's quite amazing, and it shows that people are getting recommendations for their apps from all over the place, from sites like ours to just spotting apps used in other contexts. What's most surprising isn't just the US App Store growth, but the fact that iShred has seen a big jump up overseas as well -- iShred is in the top ten in over 20 countries in the world. In Japan, we're told, it's the #3 app out of all of them. That's surprising -- when the video went viral, it must have become popular internationally.

Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that the iShred folks have put the app on sale for just US$0.99 (and honestly, this post will probably give them another nice jump in the listings). But it is interesting to see the effects of such a subtle app mention when it goes out and reaches the right people.

Just last week, we reported that Apple had made its way into the third spot for computer makers in the US (with an impressive 10.6 percent market share), and surely this has helped to boost Apple's stock price as of late. But how would those numbers change if the iPad were to be included as a PC?

According to Fortune, that's the question that Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore has answered. He notes that including the iPad in PC sales would easily push Apple to the number one spot with a staggering 25 percent of the market.

If we keep in mind the fact that the iPad is the fastest selling gadget of all time, the results make sense. Whitmore's argument is that if the iPad is stealing market share from netbooks, then it is logical to include it in Apple's PC sales numbers.

I agree with Whitmore's take, and I think that the iPad is truly astounding. I have no problem thinking of the iPad as a personal computer because in my own experience, the use of my MacBook has sharply declined since acquiring an iPad.

What are your thoughts, though? Do you think the iPad is just a glorified iPod touch and should not be included here? Or do you think that Apple, like HP (we assume), should be allowed to include the sale of tablets in its PC sales numbers?

Don your tin foil hats, conspiracy theorists: Verizon stores will begin selling iPads on October 28th.

There's no CDMA iPad. Big red will be selling iPads bundled with MiFi 2200s. Starting at $US630 for the 16GB model plus a MiFi, the bundles go up to $730 for the 32G model and $830 for the 64GB model.

Here's how the data plan works for these MiFi units. Customers will get a 1GB allowance in exchange for $20/month with no contract. That's a lot better than what I'm paying for my MiFi now, and it's a lot more convenient and warranty-friendly than previous iPad/MiFi combinations.

Meanwhile, AT&T stores will also begin selling iPads on the 28th, though they'll be stocking the 3G variety and not bundling them with external hotspots.

This might not be the Apple/Verizon news you were hoping for, but it's a start. We're big MiFi fans here at TUAW, and getting a mobile hotspot that can support five devices simultaneously definitely compensates for the hassle of carrying a second gadget and charger along.

[Via Engadget]