China

Apple opening retail outlets in Chengdu and Shenzhen where iPads are made

Reuters reports that Apple is planning to open two new stores in Chinese cities Chengdu and Shenzhen, regardless of its ongoing legal spat with China's bankrupt display maker Proview over the rights to use the iPad moniker in the 1.33 billion people market.

Chengdu and Shenzhen are also homes to the world's largest manufacturing sites. It's also where contract manufacturer Foxconn runs production facilities where iOS devices are being made...

Apple’s smartphone market share in China now up to 19%

We've said it before, but it's worth repeating. With over a billion cell phone users, and millions more in the wing, China is a crucial market for Apple in its quest to sell more smartphones — a market it's only been in for a few months.

But it appears to be on the right track. According to a new report from Woori Investment and Securities, Apple sold over 6 million handsets in China between January and March of this year, pushing its smartphone market share in the country up to 19%...

Windows Phone overtakes iPhone in China, Microsoft claims

In addition to having trouble catching up to Samsung in China, Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has now managed to outsell the iPhone in the 1.33 billion people market, if a high-ranked Microsoft executive in charge of the Greater China region is to be believed.

According to his data, Windows Phone market share in China now sits at seven percent, a percentage point ahead of the six percent market share enjoyed by the iPhone.

No reason to get enraged over this metric. Apple's in it for the profits, not market share and Nokia actually has a dominant presence and world-class distribution in this hugely important market. Let's hope Tim Cook's looking into those numbers as Apple needs to double down on China...

China Mobile in negotiations with Apple for iPhone partnership

To say that China is an important territory for Apple and its smartphone is an understatement. The country is home to more than a billion cell phone users, and the market is currently dominated by Android and other platforms.

That's because the iPhone has only been available in mainland China for a few months now, and the handset has yet to land on its largest carrier: China Mobile. But according to Reuters, that may not be the case for long...

Apple offers $16M to settle iPad dispute, but Proview wants $400M

Confirming the latest rumor asserting a possible settlement, Apple has reportedly offered Proview just $16 million for the rights to use the iPad moniker in China.

That's a far cry from a whopping $400 million the cash-strapped display maker is allegedly seeking in order to settle the trademark dispute and appease its creditors.

At the same time, Apple too is in a hurry to settle this dispute as the company looks to launch its new iPad in the all too important 1.33 billion people market, without risking a country-wide sales ban...

Apple appeases Proview with a settlement figure

For months, lawyers for California-based Apple and bankrupt monitor vendor Proview have been trying to negotiate a way out of a high-stake trademark dispute which has been holding back the launch of the new iPad in the 1.33 billion people China market.

According to the latest update out from China’s official government newswire Xinhua, Apple has now put a dollar value on their settlement offer to Proview, finally moving the ball forward...

Government officials say Proview owns iPad trademark as court mediates a settlement

The rights to use the iPad moniker in the 1.33 billion people market of China belong to the bankrupt display maker Proview, a Chinese government official told Reuters this morning.

The official quote indicates that Chinese government is very much interested in helping Proview prevail by gently pushing Apple into a court-moderated mediation leading to a possible settlement.

The mediation was first hinted by IDG News Service last week. Should Apple continue its court fight with Proview to lose the case, it could face a big fine plus a country-wide ban on iPad sales in China...

Smugglers caught sneaking iPhones into China in glass beer bottles

M.I.C gadget passes along an interesting story regarding a recent smuggling bust that took place at the Sha Tau Kok border in Southern China. Chinese officials seized hundreds of iPhones from a woman traveling from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.

The craziest part of this story is how the handsets were being transported. The Customs agents found the iPhones hidden inside 25 ounce solid glass beer bottles. How'd the smugglers manage to pull this off? Watch this video...

Talks are underway to settle iPad trademark dispute in China

Apple is in talks with bankrupt display maker Proview of China over the iPad trademark dispute that has delayed the launch of the third-generation tablet in the 1.33 billion people market, a new report out today alleges.

The two parties have reportedly entered a voluntary mediation procedure that could lead to negotiations over a possible settlement.

If no deal is reached, the higher court will have to make a ruling and the severe consequences for Apple, should it loose the case, could include a hefty fine and a country-wide ban on iPad sales in China...

Rare earth elements, another reason why Apple has its heels stuck in Chinese mud

We explained earlier today how producing millions of iPads that'll eventually be discarded negatively affects our environment.

And even though Apple is doing what it possibly can to forgo toxic materials in iPad manufacturing, green technology requires a significant amount of difficult-to-mine elements.

And these green earth elements are yet another reason why Apple cannot pull out of China and move manufacturing to other countries.

True, some iPhones are being made in Brazil. The problem for Apple and other electronics makers is the fact that companies can only be exempt from China’s rare earth export quotas by manufacturing within the country...

In China, security guards fight over Apple’s upcoming “world’s biggest store”

The world's biggest Apple store inside a shopping mall? Pictured above is the huge Parkland Mall shopping mall in Dalian, China, reportedly slated to become the home to the company's biggest retail outlet to date. The obligatory sign is already outside the mall and it reads “Apple’s World’s Biggest Flagship Store will be coming soon”.

Need more evidence? Well, only a flagship Apple store in the making could provoke crazy mall wars as a rival shopping center dispatched its security team to push down Apple's barricades outside the Parkland Mall.

It's all caught on tape and included below for your viewing pleasure...