WeChat Announces Apple Opens Stores On Its Platform

WeChat, China's most dominant messaging app (photo: twitter @weccatid)

JAKARTA - On Tuesday, July 11, WeChat, China's most dominant messaging app and also provides e-commerce, live broadcast, and payment services, announced that Apple, the iPhone maker, has opened stores on their social media platforms. This marks the expansion of the US company's sales channel in the world's second-largest economy.

Announcement by WeChat states that users will be able to buy Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac, through the store. Until now, Apple and Tencent have not made further comments on this matter.

This move was taken by Apple as Chinese consumers increasingly switched to social media platforms such as ByteDance's WeChat and Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok, for shopping.

In addition to its official store and website, Apple already owns a shop on Alibaba Group's online market. Apple is also trying to market its products through live broadcasts in China for the first time in May with an hour-long event.

According to data from Counterpoint Research, smartphone sales in China in the first quarter saw a 5% decline compared to the previous year, which was the lowest first quarter sales figure since 2014.

However, during that quarter, Apple recorded a 19.9% share of the Chinese smartphone market, which is its largest market share since 2014, as it managed to increase its sales by 6% compared to the previous year amid a market decline, the research company said.