Apple has started accepting Chinese yuan payments in the App Store. This is due to the expansion of the company’s activities into a key emerging market.
Thanks to this innovation, it will become much more convenient for users living in China to pay for applications for iPhone, iPad and iPod.
From now on, customers of more than 20 Chinese banks can make payments in the App Store in the national currency. Previously, it was necessary to have a two-currency credit card for this. As a result, many users were looking for alternative ways to download content. To download applications from third-party sources, the Chinese either hacked the iPhone, or made purchases using other people’s accounts and fake gift cards.
After a long neglect of the Chinese market, Apple began an aggressive expansion policy. Over the past two years, new retail stores, electronic trading platforms have been opened in the country and the Chinese version of the App Store with a simplified Chinese user interface has been launched.
According to the results of the 2011 fiscal year, which ended in September, Apple’s revenue in China increased by more than $13 billion, which accounted for 12% of the corporation’s total revenue.
As you know, most of the iPhone phones and other Apple products that are shipped worldwide are assembled at Chinese factories.
“For Apple to make payments in yuan in China is a natural necessity caused by the large scale of production in this country,” said Caroline Owen, head of the debt capital markets department for North America at Standard Chartered.
At the same time, an Apple representative declined to comment on this situation.
According to the analytical company Gartner, of the nearly 22 million smartphones sold in China in the third quarter, 10% accounted for the iPhone. Thus, Apple ranks fourth after Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies.