Apple to Soon Offer 3G iPad 2 in China, Retail Stores Expand to Hong Kong

[MacRumors]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has received certification to sell the 3G iPad 2 in mainland China. Up until now, Apple has only been allowed to sell the Wi-Fi models of the iPad 2 in China.

According to China's Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center, a device by Apple with third-generation high-speed wireless data capabilities was issued the network access license needed for the company to begin official sales in China. The device, listed under model number "A1396," is compatible with the 3G standard WCDMA, and would work with the cellular network operated by Apple's local iPhone partner, China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Model number A1396 is Apple's model number for the 3G iPad 2 that was released in the U.S. in March.

Separately, Penn Olson reported that Apple's official China site had listed 3G iPad 2s for sale for the first time yesterday (now removed). Shipping was listed as within 2 or 3 weeks. The site explains that Apple's 3G products are always slower to enter the Chinese market.




In related news, Apple officially confirmed that Apple's first Hong Kong retail store would be opening this quarter in the International Finance Center's IFC mall. Photos of the beginnings of the store have been sent in to us and other sites. Engadget China reports the store will open on September 24th.

Apple's rapid expansion in China has been well documented with 6x year over year growth reported in July. At the time, now Apple CEO Tim Cook said they believe that China is "a substantial opportunity for Apple and we're just scratching the surface."

Thanks Rickin

Article Link: Apple to Soon Offer 3G iPad 2 in China, Retail Stores Expand to Hong Kong

 

[840quadra]

Good news for Apples bank account, it's nice hearing about their continued growth in that market, despite the black market of copies and cloned iOS devices.

Just wished this news also included information about an iPad 3, but I can always have wishful thinking!

 

[haruhiko]

Apple is officially ending its ignorance of Hong Kong for decades Hong Kong people can finally enjoy customer service which is up to Apple's standard instead of being transferred to some random third party "authorized" repairer....

 

[asaeta]

China = goldmine for Apple

 

[Tha Professor]

They had to wait for Steve to demission before opening a store in HK accompanied with such an un-apple sharp red color banner...

 

[cactus33]

They had to wait for Steve to demission before opening a store in HK accompanied with such an un-apple sharp red color banner...

Well red is a VERY auspicious colour in Hong Kong, and I think they are just responding to what people like, so it makes sense. It's not that un-Apple when you think about it, they've just changed the colour!

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Apple is officially ending its ignorance of Hong Kong for decades Hong Kong people can finally enjoy customer service which is up to Apple's standard instead of being transferred to some random third party "authorized" repairer....

Amen! It's been a long time!

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Good news for Apples bank account, it's nice hearing about their continued growth in that market, despite the black market of copies and cloned iOS devices.

Just wished this news also included information about an iPad 3, but I can always have wishful thinking!

They're probably thinking: 'If we don't go to China, the fakes will!', so it's a way of dealing with it!

 

[RedDrink]

Cool! Going there in October. I'll have to pay one of those stores a visit to avoid getting homesick.

 

[Tha Professor]

Well red is a VERY auspicious colour in Hong Kong, and I think they are just responding to what people like, so it makes sense. It's not that un-Apple when you think about it, they've just changed the colour!

Yeah, I've guessed it is THE color in Hong Kong... And that's exactly why they've been waiting so long to open a store there, so they could use HK colors and not Apple colors... But come on.. it was a joke in first place..

 

[Skika]

I just realised "Made in China" means something completely different in... China

 

[B J M]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I just realised "Made in China" means something completely different in... China

Their products say "made here, probably by one of your relatives."

 

[FFX]

Seriously..

Sorry but i need to point this out, Hong kong is'nt China. Hong kong is'nt part of China anymore. In Hong kong they don't speak Mandarin, they speak Cantonese. In Hong kong they dont have Chinese yuan (renminbi), they use Hong kong dollar..

 

[808?]

In Hong Kong we still don't have access locally to buy music or movies from the ITMS, even after 10 years of iTunes elsewhere.

 

[lOUDsCREAMEr]

Factual errors:

- China Unicom is NOT Apple's iPhone partner in Hong Kong.
- Hong Kong's 3G+4G standard is NOT WCDMA
- Engadget "Chinese", NOT Engadget China

 

[doctor-don]

In Hong Kong we still don't have access locally to buy music or movies from the ITMS, even after 10 years of iTunes elsewhere.

SOMEONE is still learning correct english!

"Apple to Soon Offer 3G iPad 2 in China" - same old same old, splitting infinitives. Maybe Arnold has been writing those Honda ads, too.

 

[spacemanspifff]

Kinda off topic..

Is it me or has the image used in this article changed since it was first posted?

I though it was a daylight image before?

Is it a webcam feed or something like that?

 

[lesreaper2009]

Apple's rapid expansion in China has been well documented with 6x year over year growth reported in July. At the time, now Apple CEO Tim Cook said they believe that China is "a substantial opportunity for Apple and we're just scratching the surface."

You'll make money Apple, but eventually the Chinese will rip off everything and you'll have a hollow business. That's what happens in a nation that doesn't understand or care about property rights.

 

[Chumburro2U]

Barely scratching the surface?

I hope it's not like the old Chinese proverb, "He who goes to sleep with an itchy butt hole, wake up with a smelly finger".

 

[mwxiao]

Sorry but i need to point this out, Hong kong is'nt China. Hong kong is'nt part of China anymore. In Hong kong they don't speak Mandarin, they speak Cantonese. In Hong kong they dont have Chinese yuan (renminbi), they use Hong kong dollar..

Please google/wikipedia "Hong Kong" if you need to. Or, I did that for you.

While we are "off" topic, I also want to point out that Cantonese is not really a different language. It's a dialect of Chinese that's spoken in southern China. It's only a spoken language. I also wikipedia it for your convenience.

 

[sniffies]

"Apple to Soon Offer 3G iPad 2 in China" - same old same old, splitting infinitives. Maybe Arnold has been writing those Honda ads, too.

Oh God, arn, please, fix it! That's just unacceptable. Seriously.

"To really succeed, you have to blah-blah-blah" - there's no such verb "to really", there's a verb "to succeed" though.

"They are to soon offer blah-blah-blah" - again, "to soon"? Really? No, we're not talking about "too soon" here.

 

[chocolaterabbit]

Sorry but i need to point this out, Hong kong is'nt China. Hong kong is'nt part of China anymore. In Hong kong they don't speak Mandarin, they speak Cantonese. In Hong kong they dont have Chinese yuan (renminbi), they use Hong kong dollar..

Uh, HK is part of China. The fact that it has different administration is irrelevant.What's more, Cantonese is Chinese, Mandarin is only one of the possible languages of China.

You'll make money Apple, but eventually the Chinese will rip off everything and you'll have a hollow business. That's what happens in a nation that doesn't understand or care about property rights.

With the amount of rich middle-upper class appearing in China, Apple has no need to worry about knock offs. There's enough people to pay for the real deal and not a half baked copy.

 

[Trauma1]

Sorry but i need to point this out, Hong kong is'nt China. Hong kong is'nt part of China anymore. In Hong kong they don't speak Mandarin, they speak Cantonese. In Hong kong they dont have Chinese yuan (renminbi), they use Hong kong dollar..

Hong Kong isn't China, but it is a part of China. It has been since 1997.

The fact that a different dialect used does not matter; there are hundreds of dialects spoken withiin mainland China.

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The fact that it has different administration is irrelevant.

No it's extremely relevant. The Hong Kong SAR is more than just a label. Virtually everything is separate from mainland China; the economy, the political system, laws and regulations, government infrastructure, flag, etc. About the only thing they share is a national defense. You do have to go through border patrol to get between Hong Kong and mainland China.

 

[accessoriesguy]

You'll make money Apple, but eventually the Chinese will rip off everything and you'll have a hollow business. That's what happens in a nation that doesn't understand or care about property rights.

they have been doing that for years now already.

Look expansion is good for any business. This is a great opening project for apple since it could open the door to other apple 3G products aka the iPhone.

Apple already manufacturers their devices there, so shipping should not be such a problem, and with such a mass population it shouldn't be hard for even a minor percent of the population to be interested in Apple products.

 

[Nermal]

- Hong Kong's 3G+4G standard is NOT WCDMA

According to my local phone company, there are three compatible (read: there's a working roaming agreement) WCDMA networks in Hong Kong.

Having said that, the article is about mainland China. I'm not sure why (Hong Kong) is listed in the quote.

 

[lOUDsCREAMEr]

According to my local phone company, there are three compatible (read: there's a working roaming agreement) WCDMA networks in Hong Kong.

Having said that, the article is about mainland China. I'm not sure why (Hong Kong) is listed in the quote.

Hong Kong is GSM.

WCDMA is only for roaming (for super-rich visitors) which PCCW charges USD 500 per month (with 2 yr contract). No sane mind will actually use it.

http://www.pccwmobile.com/portal/common/multi_section.jsp?fldr_id=9629

Please google/wikipedia "Hong Kong" if you need to. Or, I did that for you.

While we are "off" topic, I also want to point out that Cantonese is not really a different language. It's a dialect of Chinese that's spoken in southern China. It's only a spoken language. I also wikipedia it for your convenience.

To the people up north, last time i checked, u still need a visa to cross the border.

Hong Kong isn't China, but it is a part of China. It has been since 1997.

The fact that a different dialect used does not matter; there are hundreds of dialects spoken withiin mainland China.

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No it's extremely relevant. The Hong Kong SAR is more than just a label. Virtually everything is separate from mainland China; the economy, the political system, laws and regulations, government infrastructure, flag, etc. About the only thing they share is a national defense. You do have to go through border patrol to get between Hong Kong and mainland China.

I'm sure a portion of the population finds it insulting to be called "Chinese" because of deep-rooted historic & the delicate political reasons can't be easily understood by outsiders. It's like calling Québécois a "British subject".

A more politically neutral term is "Hong Konger".

 

[Nermal]

Hong Kong is GSM.

WCDMA is only for roaming (for super-rich visitors) which PCCW charges USD 500 per month (with 2 yr contract). No sane mind will actually use it.

http://www.pccwmobile.com/portal/common/multi_section.jsp?fldr_id=9629

That linked plan is CDMA2000, not WCDMA. According to Telecom NZ, I can roam on Hong Kong CSL Ltd, Hutchinson Telecom, and Smartone, and apparently all three offer WCDMA (in addition to GSM).

I'd be very surprised if Hong Kong's "normal" networks are only GSM, as most GSM operators have added WCDMA alongside it in recent years as it's the most cost-effective way for them to provide 3G.