Ten cents WeChat said Tuesday that iPhone maker Apple had opened a store on its social media platform, marking an expansion of the US company’s retail channels in the world’s second largest economy.
The announcement by WeChat, China’s dominant messaging app that also offers e-commerce, live streaming and payment services, said users could buy Apple products like iPhones, iPads and Macs in the store.
Apple and Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Apple’s move comes as Chinese consumers increasingly turn to social media platforms like WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of tick tockShopping.
In addition to its own stores and website, Apple already operates a shop on the Alibaba Group’s online marketplace Tmall. Apple also tried to market its products via live stream in China for the first time in May with a one-hour show.
According to data from Counterpoint Research, China’s first-quarter smartphone sales fell 5 percent year-on-year, marking the country’s lowest first-quarter sales figure since 2014.
However, during the quarter, Apple captured 19.9 percent of China’s smartphone market — its largest since 2014 — and grew sales 6 percent year-on-year in a declining market, the research firm said.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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