Apple looks to WeChat for China strategy boost

iPhone maker Apple has opened a store on the Chinese ‘super app’ WeChat, according to the platform – a signal that the California-based company is expanding its retail presence in China.

Why it matters

China’s economy may not be the growth factory it once was, but Apple’s aspirational offer continues to see the company grow market share in the world’s largest smartphone market, according to Centrepoint Research. Another channel suggests that Apple intends to continue this trend.

What’s happening

Reuters first reported the news that Tencent’s WeChat, the most popular Chinese messaging platform as well as a shopping and payment services powerhouse, would host the company.

• The news represents an addition to its presence on Tmall, owned by Alibaba, with both channels a way for Chinese shoppers to purchase Apple products.
• China has long been an area of focus for Apple, which along with India, is looking to Asia to power the next phase of its product sales growth.
• Meanwhile, the company is hedging that a more expansive services business will allow it to continue to grow its ecosystem whether on new or second hand devices.

In context

The move comes amid a tricky time for Apple in China and the Chinese economy more broadly. At the level of the company, its most recent results reported a revenue decline across Greater China.

For the country, which is also the largest smartphone market in the world by some distance, its economic difficulties go beyond a dipping smartphone market. In June, the country’s economy was close to deflating, with shopping festivals in the month like 618 further cooling prices, indicating a more fragile economic recovery than hoped.

Sourced from Reuters, WARC, Financial Times, Apple Insider