Tech giant releases mobile payments systems to early glitches and mixed public response.
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Apple pay for it's mistakes Image: Shinya Suzuki |
Despite already being well served by Tencent and Alibaba, China's mobile payments market is booming.
As its most important market, releasing Apple Pay should be a boon for the Cupertino-based firm, but a launch in February this year has been met with scepticism and glitches.
Having already spent several month's wages on iPhone 5s and below, mobile phone owners were discouraged to find out the payments technology only worked with the iPhone 6 series, the iWatch and some versions of the iPad.
For those lucky enough to have the iPhone 6 model, many were unable to link their Apple "wallet" with their debit cards as the system took several hours to catch up to mass registrations. Users taking to social media to complain about the lack of service and problems they had encountered no doubt did little service to Apple's biggest asset - its brand.
Apple's hefty profit margins in China come from its ability to leverage its brand and status. Unlike Tencent and Alibaba, which have spent time developing user-friendly services, or national transactions giant Union Pay, Apple may find it difficult to get a foothold in the fast-growing market unless it can quickly catch up to local competitors.
Other tech and publishing companies will also be facing difficulties in China as the government unveiled a new plan to place outright restrictions on foreign companies publishing online media or creative content in China.