Apple Stores are often busy and with the release of new iPhones and iPads, Apple’s retail locations become bombarded with waves of excited customers. According to Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf, the launch of the iPhone 4S sent Apple Store sales to record heights during the holiday quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2011, revenue per store reached $17.08 million, a 42.6% increase over the same quarter in 2010. The average number of visitors per store was up 15.3% annually and sales per square foot reached $2,033 for the quarter — by comparison, the company’s nearest retail rival Tiffany & Co. saw sales of $2,974 per square foot last quarter, Fortune noted. Apple currently has 361 retail locations with 40 more planned for 2012, 30 of which will open overseas. The company currently has five locations in China and is looking to increase that number to 25 within the next three years.

Read

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty believes Apple will partner up with both China Telecom and China Mobile over the next year, and will eventually make the iPhone available on all three Chinese carriers, reports Apple Insider. The move could bring sales of the popular handset to as many as 40 million units in 2013 alone. The iPhone is currently only offered by China Unicom, the nation’s second largest carrier. Through this partnership, Huberty believes Apple can only reach 10% of the 150 million “high-end Chinese subscribers” in the country. China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier, holds the majority of the country’s high-end subscribers with an estimated 120 million customers, with the final 10% of high-end subscribers carried by China Telecom, the third-largest carrier in China. Huberty also believes Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone is likely to be compatible with China Mobile’s upcoming 4G TD-LTE network, although she notes it is “still too early to know for sure.” Morgan Stanley expects the next-generation iPhone to launch in the third quarter this year — BGR reported last month that Apple will launch a redesigned iPhone this fall — and the firm believes China Mobile will release the new iPhone in late 2012 or early 2013.

Read

Phone maker ZTE recently said that it sees the United States and China as the two largest markets for smartphone sales growth. “The United States and China will be key engines driving our smartphone sales,” ZTE’s head of handset strategy Lv Qianhao, told Reuters in a recent interview, noting that the company expects its worldwide smartphone shipments to double in 2012 and to increase by 30% to 40% annually through 2015. ZTE mostly sells Android-powered smartphones but said it plans to launch a Windows Phone device in China before the third quarter this year; we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the Windows Phone 7.5-powered ZTE Tania that was on display during the Consumer Electronics Show last week. “If we say ZTE started out as a contractor, like those building mass housing that are value for money, then we want to be a developer of luxury high-end estates,” Qianhao said.

Read

Pent up demand for Apple’s latest smartphone caused the company to halt sales of its just-released iPhone 4S in Beijing, China on Friday, fearing for the safety of its sales staff. According to Chinese tech blog M.I.C. Gadget, Beijing residents eager to get their hands on Apple’s iPhone 4S began to line up more than 12 hours before stores opened on Friday. A massive crowd had gathered at the Sanlitun Apple Store, and workers were forced to delay its opening. The crowd seemingly then became unruly to the point where Apple Store employees’ safety could not be guaranteed, and an announcement was made that the launch had been canceled. At that point fights reportedly began to break out, several members of the crowd began to throw eggs at the Apple Store, and SWAT teams had to be called in to restore order. Apple’s only comment on the matter was that the company has already sold out of its initial iPhone 4S supply in China. A video of the massive crowd that gathered outside Apple’s Sanlitun Apple Store follows below.

Read

In eight hours, Apple’s iPhone will touch down in China for the first official time. Thousands have already lined up outside of Apple Stores, and in Beijing and Shanghai locations, there are hundreds of people waiting in the hopes of getting their hands on the iPhone 4S. The image above was posted on Twitter on January 10th, three days before the highly-anticipated smartphone’s launch. China Unicom is the only carrier set to offer the iPhone 4S, with both the 16GB and 32GB models free with a two and three-year agreements. In the future, the device is also expected to land on China Telecom, the nation’s third largest wireless carrier.

Read

Apple’s iPhone 4S is set to launch in China and 21 more markets on January 13th. The popular smartphone was previously rumored to be scheduled for release in the region on January 23rd, but Apple announced on Tuesday that the launch of its latest smartphone will occur 10 days sooner. “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.” China is seen as a key growth market for Apple’s mobile devices as well as its MacBook line of notebook computers. Apple announced in October that it sold more than 4 million iPhone 4S handsets during the phone’s debut weekend alone, and the smartphone has launched in dozens of additional regions since that point in time. Apple’s full press release follows below.

iPhone 4S Arrives in China on January 13

CUPERTINO, California―January 4, 2012―Apple® today announced that iPhone® 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet, will be available in China and 21 additional countries on Friday, January 13. iPhone 4S is packed with incredible new features including Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri™, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. iPhone 4S comes with iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features.

“Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.”

Beginning Friday, January 13, iPhone 4S will be available in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

iPhone 4S comes in either black or white for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the new 64GB model.* iPhone 4S is sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4 is available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 3GS is available for free with a two year contract from participating carriers.

*Qualified customers only. Requires a new two year rate plan, sold separately.

Handset makers in China have formed an alliance to prepare for possible patent battles with Apple, Microsoft and Nokia. Coolpad, Konka, TCL, ZTE and Lenovo were among the companies named in a report by DigiTimes on Friday. The number of lawsuits filed in China is expected to increase as Microsoft, Nokia and Apple try to increase market share there, the report says. Nokia has already filed patent infringement suits against several Chinese phone makers and Microsoft has gone after Huawei to try to secure a patent licensing deal. Huawei responded to Microsoft’s threats in early November and explained that it has 65,000 patents worldwide. “We have enough to protect our interests,” Huawei Devices chief marketing officer Victor Xu said. “We are a very important stakeholder in Android.” Each of the Chinese companies reportedly has a large patent portfolio and, combined, they could create enough of a force to stave off at least some of the patent-related lawsuits that have plagued other companies.

Read

Apple’s iPhone 4S may make its debut in China before Chinese New Year on January 23rd. Several retail stores in Shenzhen and Shenyang have already started taking pre-orders for the device, although Apple hasn’t yet said when it will officially launch the phone in China. The rumor was first reported by People’s Daily in China, which said that the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted the iPhone 4S with its China Compulsory Certification stamp of approval on December 21st. The iPhone 4S made its U.S. debut in October and was launched in 20 additional countries earlier this month.

[Via Fortune]

Read

Apple recently lost a trademark suit in China after it attempted to sue a Chinese firm for infringing on its iPad trademark. Apple originally filed a complaint against Proview Technology, which argued that it registered for the iPad trademark in 2000, long before Apple introduced the tablet. Proview Technology says it continues to use the iPad moniker in China and several other countries and is now seeking $1.5 billion in compensation from Apple. The iPhone maker has six Apple Stores in China and, according to Reuters, executives believe they have just “scratched the surface” in terms of the sales potential that the Chinese market will offer. The company plans to open more stores to help fight a growing outcrop of fake Apple Store locations and, as such, it is important for Apple to be able to use the iPad trademark in the country.

Read

Microsoft has reportedly pushed the launch of its Windows Phone operating system in China to the first half of 2012. Microsoft’s China communications director Yang Tanyang had originally said the Redmond-based company’s vendor partners planned to deploy handsets in the country before the end of the year, IDG News explained Monday. The most recent reports suggested Microsoft gave Chinese retailer Suning an exclusive offer to sell Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices in more than 700 of its retail stores. China’s Windows Phone launch will be key for Microsoft’s goals to boost its mobile operating system’s global market share. IDC and Gartner both predict Windows Phone will have the second largest operating system share in the world by 2015.

Read

Microsoft is reportedly in talks to partner with Chinese retailer Suning in an effort to distribute Windows Phones throughout the country. Suning has more than 700 stores in China and Microsoft is rumored to have agreed to give the retailer first dibs on Windows Phone and upcoming Windows 8 devices, Chinese news source QQ Finance reported recently. The deal may be imminent although it remains unclear which Windows Phone models will be sold in the country. It is also unclear how vendors are involved with the talks. Microsoft currently has a small slice of the smartphone operating system market but a big push in China could help drive momentum as it continues to battle Android and iOS for consumer interest. Research firms IDC and Gartner both predict that Windows Phone will have the second largest operating system share by 2015. Pyramid Research has even suggested the OS will surpass Android’s global share by 2013 driven by Microsoft’s new partnership with Nokia.

[Via WinRumors]

Read

Strategy Analytics: China Overtakes United States as World’s Largest Smartphone Market in Q3 2011

Boston, MA – November 23, 2011 – According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments reached a record 24 million units in China during the third quarter of 2011. Smartphone shipments reached just 23 million units in the United States. China has overtaken the United States for the first time to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume.

Linda Sui, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Smartphone shipments grew 58 percent sequentially to reach a record 23.9 million units in China during Q3 2011. In contrast, smartphone shipments fell 7 percent sequentially to reach 23.3 million units in the United States. China has overtaken the United States for the first time to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume.”

Tom Kang, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “China’s rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE. Nokia currently leads China’s smartphone market with 28 percent share, while HTC heads the United States smartphone market with 24 percent share.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “The United States remains the world’s largest smartphone market by revenue, but China has overtaken the United States in terms of volume. China is now at the forefront of the worldwide mobile computing boom. China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore.”

Exhibit 1: China Smartphone Shipments by Vendor in Q3 2011  [1]

China Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q3 ’11
Nokia	6.8
Samsung	4.2
Others	12.9
Total	23.9
China Smartphone Vendor Marketshare  %	Q3 ’11
Nokia	28.5%
Samsung	17.6%
Others	54.0%
Total	100.0%
China Total Smartphone Growth Quarter-over-Quarter %	57.5%

Exhibit 2: United States Smartphone Shipments by Vendor in Q3 2011  [2]

United States Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q3 ’11
HTC	5.6
Apple	4.8
Others	12.9
Total	23.3
United States Smartphone Vendor Marketshare  %	Q3 ’11
HTC	24.0%
Apple	20.6%
Others	55.4%
Total	100.0%
United States Total Smartphone Growth Quarter-over-Quarter %	-7.4%

The full report, China Overtakes United States as World’s Largest Smartphone Market in Q3 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Handset Country Share Tracker (CST) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/7kltu2j.

Apple recently had a meeting with Chinese environmental groups during which it admitted that 15 of the plants it uses in its supply chain violate China’s environmental regulations. The Cupertino-based company has typically ignored any accusations that its plants are over polluting. Apple reportedly made the admission during a three-hour discussion with the EnviroFriends Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Friends of Nature and the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. Read on for more.

The supply chain companies in question have been accused of excessive emissions and, according to Chinese news source Caixin, have not kept track of wastewater pollution. Unfortunately, Apple didn’t identify which specific companies were polluting, although earlier reports have suggested that Foxconn is among Apple’s suppliers that are guilty of breaking Apple’s “commitment to safe and environmentally-responsible working conditions,” Caixin said. ”In the term of information transparency, Apple still has not done enough,” Friends of Nature Secretary-General Li Bo told Caixin.

“What Apple has been doing is positive,” Green Stone Environmental Action Network secretary general Li Chunhua, who participated in the meeting, said. “But we want them to be more open with their supply chain. They didn’t do more in this area.”

According to IDG, the iPhone maker will hire a third-party company to investigate each of its suppliers. Apple has started to clean up its act in other parts of the world; despite earning a failing grade in a recent Greenpeace report, it is working to power its massive North Carolina data center with solar energy.

Read [Caixin] Read [IDG]

Former Motorola software engineer Hanjuan Jin, a 41-year old naturalized United States citizen, is standing trial for stealing trade secrets from Motorola with plans to sell the documents to the Chinese military and to Kai Sun News Technology Co. According to Bloomberg, Jin was randomly stopped at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2007 as she tried to flee the United States with a one-way ticket to China, $30,000 in cash and more than a thousand private documents that belonged to Motorola.

“The defendant has a job waiting for her, a job in China with a company that provides cellular technology to the Chinese military,” prosecutor Christopher Stetler said. Jin’s defense has argued that the documents Jin stole were not valuable to the company, which has since split into two separate entities, Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility. She stole secrets related to iDEN push-to-talk technology, but defense lawyer Beth Westman Gaus has described the technology as “obsolete.”

Jin is not alone when it comes to corporate espionage on behalf of China. According to a report issued by the United States Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, “Chinese actors are the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage.” Motorola Solutions is also suing Jin for working at a competitor while she was employed by the Illinois-based company.

“Motorola Solutions has cooperated with the government throughout its investigation and prosecution of this case and continues to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice,” Motorola Solutions spokesperson Nicholas Sweers said in a statement.

Read

Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders in Hong Kong sold out within just 10 minutes, analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said Monday in a note to investors. Pre-orders began last Friday and the phone will officially land in stores this Friday. White estimates that the Chinese market will be key to Apple’s continued growth. The analyst believes Apple’s revenue from “Greater China” — mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — topped $4.5 billion last quarter, a 270% increase from the same quarter in 2010. That figure was 16% of Apple’s total sales, up from the 2% of sales that Greater China represented in 2009. Apple currently owns and operates six official Apple Stores in China. White reiterated a Buy rating on Apple stock with a price target of $666.