WeChat’s winning formula helps Apple rack up bonus points in China
WeChat is proving effective at getting people in China to connect their bank accounts with their iPhones to pay for virtual goods and services
Deng, a Beijing-based quality analyst, is embarrassed by how much money she spends playing mobile games on WeChat, a hugely popular messaging app developed by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings.
"The most expensive time was when I spent 68 yuan (HK$85) on a leopard on Tiantiankupao," said Deng, who only identified herself with her surname out of embarrassment. She said she was an avid iPhone user, logging onto Tencent's hit game - called Timi Run Everyday in English - in which characters run through obstacle courses. Having a leopard as a pet gives the characters extra power, helping players beat their friends.
The category [with] the App Store in it is almost doubling year over year
Deng and tens of millions like her have made China Apple's third-largest market for software sales, and a huge chunk of that comes through WeChat, which had 438 million monthly active users globally, mostly in China, at the end of June, and has rapidly evolved from a messaging tool into a digital Swiss Army knife, allowing users to send messages, play games, book taxis and shop online.
"We're seeing some substantial strength there," Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said of China in a July earnings call. "The thing that's actually growing the most is the iTunes, Software and Services category, which has the App Store in it. That area is almost doubling year over year."
Apple's Greater China revenues, which include Hong Kong and Taiwan, soared 28 per cent in April-June from a year earlier to US$5.9 billion, and globally, iTunes, Software and Services sales were the company's second-fastest growing product category, up 12 per cent year on year to US$4.5 billion.