iPhone Apps Hit in China

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Despite the large shadow of censorship looming over the Chinese internet, the iPhone and it’s library of apps have become very popular in the People’s Republic. Backing that up, mobile application company 9thQ has reported that this year the legitimate Chinese iPhone apps have accounted for about $1 million, with projects to hit $6 million USD next year.

And the reason why sales have been modestly successful so far, is piracy. “When we release apps targeting users here, we’re usually not able to get reasonable returns because of piracy,” 9thQ CEO Shi Weixing told the Wall Street Journal.

One cause of the common piracy in China’s iPhone community is that the iPhone was only put on sale (officially) less than a month ago by telcom provider China Unicom. It’s also a fact that it has been released much earlier in nearby tech hubs like  Hong Kong and Singapore, which led to most of the 2 million Chinese-owned iPhones to be ‘jailbroken’ and use illegitimate apps.

To further add complications, apps from the Chinese app store must be purchased with a Chinese credit card, which isn’t yet popular in the Communist country.

Despite the rampant piracy and the point-of-purchase issue, Chinese mobile software companies seem to be pleased with the app sales. The most popular applications are reportedly city mapping software, a dating application, and Chinese-to-English translators. Speaking of translators, they may come in handy as the prices in the app store are listed in American dollars.

Although the iPhone has had a rough launch in China, the app sales are satisfying the software developers, and apparently, the Chinese tech-savy.