iPhone/iPod Apps in China

[mac44]

The iPhone is not supported in China, but the iPod Touch is. However, the App Store in China is severely limited. There are about three games on the site. The games that are there are not even in the Top 500 on the US App Store site.

Does anyone know why Apple only puts a few Apps on their iTunes Store in China? Also, the site is English only, not Chinese. Apps do not do well in China.

Thanks,

Steve in Beijing

 

[gillybean]

I was in Taiwan recently and saw them selling the iPhone and iPod touch there (in chinese language). I assume there's some kind of app store for that in chinese already, so maybe they could just use that for china too?

 

[mac44]

You can only access the Apple Store in the country where your iTunes account is established. I cannot access the Apple Store in China with my iTunes account. I can only check it out by creating another account.

 

[Delirium39]

You can only access the Apple Store in the country where your iTunes account is established. I cannot access the Apple Store in China with my iTunes account. I can only check it out by creating another account.

Actually, you can visit every single store easily. You just can't buy from each one without a different account. To view any of the stores, go to the home page of iTunes, scroll down to the bottom, and choose a country from the drop list. I switch between stores to view my rankings all the time.

 

[hhlee]

probably just a matter of supply and demand. htc is quite popular over there and people may be working on those kinds of apps rather than iphone. perhaps not many people have iphones.

 

[speedracer3000]

I'm currently in Taiwan with my US iTunes account and I can view and buy everything just fine. I do not notice any less apps here nor have I encountered any trouble buying apps. I have downloaded at least 6+ apps so far. I was also in Hong Kong recently and didn't notice any difference there either.
Of course unlike Taiwan and HK, Chinese government tightly controls all media and censors anything it doesn't like without real justfication, so that may or may not have something to do with it.

 

[mac44]

Actually, you can visit every single store easily. You just can't buy from each one without a different account. To view any of the stores, go to the home page of iTunes, scroll down to the bottom, and choose a country from the drop list. I switch between stores to view my rankings all the time.

How do you find rankings of products in different countries? For example, "Powerboat Challenge" is #1 in China. What is it in the U.S?

 

[MacToddB]

The iPhone is not supported in China, but the iPod Touch is. However, the App Store in China is severely limited. There are about three games on the site. The games that are there are not even in the Top 500 on the US App Store site.

Does anyone know why Apple only puts a few Apps on their iTunes Store in China? Also, the site is English only, not Chinese. Apps do not do well in China.

Thanks,

Steve in Beijing

Ni Hao, Steve,

As a Developer, we choose which countries to sell our apps in. The default is everywhere, or you can specify specific countries, but China is listed under "Rest of world".

Mine has an English-only interface, but we're selling it (and fairly well) all over the world. I do get a few questions from non-English speakers, but I'm managing. I need to use Babel Fish to figure out how to say 'check the mute switch' in multiple languages!

Anyway, this sounds like an EXCELLENT opportunity for a game developer. If they have the iPod Touch, and I think I read the iPhone is coming, and there are a handful of games, whomever can create a game that is native Chinese, or at least neutral, could do well!

 

[skubish]

Ni Hao, Steve,

As a Developer, we choose which countries to sell our apps in. The default is everywhere, or you can specify specific countries, but China is listed under "Rest of world".

Mine has an English-only interface, but we're selling it (and fairly well) all over the world. I do get a few questions from non-English speakers, but I'm managing. I need to use Babel Fish to figure out how to say 'check the mute switch' in multiple languages!

Anyway, this sounds like an EXCELLENT opportunity for a game developer. If they have the iPod Touch, and I think I read the iPhone is coming, and there are a handful of games, whomever can create a game that is native Chinese, or at least neutral, could do well!

This should be a Sticky in big BOLD letters at the top. I am sick of these threads about why app X is not available in country Y. Why Ohh Why have you foresaken us Apple? Talk to the developer not Apple.

 

[Solemony]

China is very strict when it comes to media or computer related things..Maybe that could be the problem...

 

[175170]

China is very strict when it comes to media or computer related things..Maybe that could be the problem...

Very True.
When I was in China during the Olympics, I couldn't even access the App Store, or the iTunes store for that matter.
After some research, I discovered that the damn Chinese Government was blocking everything- because the iTunes store started selling the Tibet Album thing.
Things like these make me pretty angry.

 

[nattylux]

Ni Hao, Steve,

As a Developer, we choose which countries to sell our apps in. The default is everywhere, or you can specify specific countries, but China is listed under "Rest of world".

Mine has an English-only interface, but we're selling it (and fairly well) all over the world. I do get a few questions from non-English speakers, but I'm managing. I need to use Babel Fish to figure out how to say 'check the mute switch' in multiple languages!

Anyway, this sounds like an EXCELLENT opportunity for a game developer. If they have the iPod Touch, and I think I read the iPhone is coming, and there are a handful of games, whomever can create a game that is native Chinese, or at least neutral, could do well!

This is not entirely accurate. Yes, the developer chooses where to sell. The vast majority of devs just choose to sell in the whole world - why would we want to limit our market?

However, some countries' STORES are limited. If you go to the Chinese store (go to iTunes Store > Home, and the country selector is at the very bottom), you'll see that their store does not even have a Games category. So since our apps are in Games, even though we said we want to sell to the whole world, our games will not show up there. The same is true for the Korean store, among others.

Now as to why these stores are limited, I have no idea. But this is completely up to Apple to work out.

 

[Delirium39]

How do you find rankings of products in different countries? For example, "Powerboat Challenge" is #1 in China. What is it in the U.S?

Same way I just described. Change your location on the home page of iTunes. Interesting that Powerboat Challenge seems to be working the system by releasing one version as an Entertainment app in China, and a different version in the USA as a Game app. I wonder if they're making a killing there, with no gaming competition...

 

[WPeterson]

that's true. according to the policy, developers decide whether the app could be sold in China or not when submitting to App Store.

but if you really wanna purchase apps in other countries, just register another account.

 

[Solemony]

Very True.
When I was in China during the Olympics, I couldn't even access the App Store, or the iTunes store for that matter.
After some research, I discovered that the damn Chinese Government was blocking everything- because the iTunes store started selling the Tibet Album thing.
Things like these make me pretty angry.

I know they usually block anything that's anti to the chinese government... I suppose they can never tolerate things even if it's so small...