Apple is learning to speak Chinese. The Cupertino, Calif., company is on a store-building binge in hopes of creating a massive new market for its products. With two stores already in the capital city, and another two in Shanghai, Apple plans to have 25 stores open in China by the end of next year. And it just revamped its iTunes and App store, allowing locals for the first time to shop online in Chinese.
Analysts say it is critical for Apple to be in China to tap into its growing middle class. In the next two years, Apple could triple its revenue from China to $9 billion a year, according to Morgan Stanley. But Apple’s pricey products — and Western-oriented applications — could limit its appeal, experts here say.
The emerging economic giant has a growing class of spenders hungry for luxury products, though it is still a developing country. China has 800 million mobile users and an online population of 400 million — the world’s largest for both categories — but a culture of piracy that makes it difficult for Western companies to profit from them.
Apple, which relaunched its Chinese iTunes and App Store in October — it now spotlights localized apps — is moving to counter the competition. Previously, customers had to use a U.S. credit card, or one with dual currency, to make online purchases. The new site has a payment system that allows consumers to transfer money from banks, the preferred method of making Internet purchases in China.
Nonetheless, the company is far from owning this market and might be at risk of losing ground, according to some experts here.
The China App Store offers few applications created by independent developers specifically for Chinese, said Bo Wang, CEO of Bokan Technologies, one of the largest iPhone app developers in China….