Chinese social media giant WeChat on Tuesday announced that Apple has opened an online store on its platform, thus, expanding its retail channel in the world’s second-largest economy, reported news agency Reuters. Tencent-owned WeChat said users would be able to buy Apple products including iPhones, iPads, and Macs from the store. WeChat is China’s primary messaging app and it also offers e-commerce, live streaming, and payment services, among others.
According to the news agency, Apple’s move comes as Chinese consumers are increasingly shopping on social media platforms like WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Apple already has a digital store on Alibaba Group’s Tmall online marketplace in addition to its own stores and website. Apple also tried live streaming its products in China for the first time in May, with an hour-long show, the report noted.
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As per a report by Counterpoint Research, China’s smartphone sales declined 5 per cent year on year in the first quarter (Q1, the country’s lowest first-quarter sales total since 2014. However, according to the same report, Apple held a 19.9 per cent share of the Chinese smartphone market during the quarter, its highest since 2014. The company’s sales increased by 6 per cent year on year during the quarter, the Reuters report noted.
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The report comes at a time when US-China trade rift is widening and tech giants are increasingly looking to diversify their production facilities outside China.
Meanwhile, according to news agency Bloomberg, Tata Group is close to signing an agreement with key Apple supplier Wistron to acquire its factory in Karnataka, marking the first Indian company to enter into iPhone assembly space. The potential deal could materialise as soon as August, as per the report. It was earlier reported that the Taiwanese electronics company is preparing to wind down its operations in India after a successful business stint spanning over fifteen years.
Wistron reportedly exported nearly $500 million worth of iPhones from India in the three months ended June 30. Apple’s other key Taiwanese suppliers, Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp., have also ramped up production in India.