China National Radio Beijing January 10th news (Reporter Chen Xiyu) According to the Economic Voice "World Company" report, Apple, which has always been aloof, has become more down-to-earth recently.
Apple has just announced the launch of App Store recharge cards in China. The recharge cards are available in four tiers: 88 yuan, 100 yuan, 200 yuan, and 500 yuan. They can be used to purchase in the App Store or subscribe to Apple Music through multiple devices.
Interestingly, the store managers of a certain Apple store seemed to be unaware of this news. The manager of an Apple store in East China said: "I haven't received this notice yet."
Apple's customer service was also unaware of this matter. After repeated confirmation, they told Tianxia that the recharge card is not available for purchase at the moment: "It is currently in the promotion stage. The news has been passed on to the Chinese mainland market first. The physical card has not yet been sold in physical stores or on the official website."
Before the launch of the App Store recharge card, if Chinese users wanted to purchase paid apps or value-added services within apps, they had to bind their bank cards to complete the operation: either recharge with a savings card or deduct with a credit card. In the Chinese market where Apple Pay, WeChat Pay, and Alipay are becoming increasingly popular, why did Apple launch a less cool recharge card?
Internet expert Hong Bo: "In fact, this kind of physical card is not only sold by Apple, but also by many companies, such as JD.com's recharge card. The recharge card itself can be given as a gift. For example, if you give a recharge card to a friend during the Spring Festival, he can use it immediately; if you give an Apple recharge card, he can immediately buy apps in the Apple App Store. It is very convenient to use a card as a gift, but if a friend wants to buy an app and asks you to pay for him with your bank card, this is very strange."
In addition to the recharge card, Apple also launched a buy one get one free promotion a few days ago – buy a designated Mac or (including 7) and you can get a red Beats headset. In other words: as long as you buy a 6s worth more than 4,500 yuan, you can get a red Beats headset worth more than 2,200 yuan. If you convert it, this is a 50% discount.
You know, whether it's Singles' Day, Singles' Day, or Black Friday, Apple's official website has never released any promotional information. Not releasing new products or reducing prices during various festivals has become a fixed perception of Apple in everyone's mind.
This may have a lot to do with Apple’s declining sales performance in China.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that last year was the first time since the iPhone went public in 2007 that sales fell year-on-year; and Apple's revenue fell for the first time in the past 15 years, with a sharp slowdown in sales in Greater China, down 17% year-on-year, which had a huge impact on the decline in its total revenue.
On the other hand, Samsung, Apple's biggest rival, has seen a sharp increase in profits in the fourth quarter despite the "explosion gate" incident. Its operating profit reached 9.2 trillion won (about 53 billion yuan), an increase of nearly 50% year-on-year.
However, it is worth noting that Apple's App Store generated a total of $20 billion in revenue in 2016. Compared with the slowdown in sales, the App Store's growth momentum is still very obvious. Driven by popular games such as "Pokémon Go" and "Super Mario Run", user spending on the Apple App Store rose 40% in 2016, and Apple Store revenue reached a record high of $28.5 billion.
Some market analysts say that in the early days of Apple Stores, much of the growth was due to an increase in the base of smartphone and tablet usage, but it is worth noting that now as the market matures, Apple's success should be based on increasing revenue from existing users.
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