Apple opens new store on WeChat

Apple has introduced an online store on WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging and social media app owned by Tencent. The store is accessible through WeChat’s mini-programs, which are small apps that offer various services including e-commerce, financial services, and transportation.

Through this store, Apple will offer its range of products such as iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs to Chinese consumers. This move is not the first time Apple has ventured into a Chinese platform for its store presence. The company already operates a store on Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform, a rival to Tencent. Additionally, Apple experimented with selling products through live commerce in China earlier this year.

China is a significant market for Apple outside of the United States. Research firm Counterpoint estimates that the iPhone 13 series dominated the top three positions in the list of best-selling phones in China in 2022.

Despite a decline in China’s smartphone market in the first quarter of 2023, Apple has maintained its position as the leading handset vendor in the country with a 20% market share, an increase of 2% compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Counterpoint.

While Apple continues to strengthen its market presence in China, it has been working to diversify its manufacturing sources. The company has been aiming to shift 25% of its iPhone production to India and 20% of its iPad and Apple Watch production to Vietnam by 2025, as part of its strategy to reduce dependence on manufacturing in China.