Dive Brief
- Apple is opening up a new China-based digital storefront in Alibaba’s Tmall, which has more than 70,000 digital stores and sells goods from major brands such as Nike, Gap and many others.
- Apple already has 10 brick-and-mortar stores and its own digital storefront in place in China.
- China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest mobile carrier with 750 million subscribers, is set to starting selling Apple’s iPhone Jan. 17.
Dive Insight
These confident moves by Apple could help it gain a foothold in a country where Samsung Electronics Co. is strong and many inexpensive Android-based phones abound, analysts say. In the third quarter of 2013, Apple ranked fifth in the Chinese smartphone market with a 6% share by units sold, according to research company Canalys.