China claims another Apple milestone

APPLE   APPS   APP STORE

China - There's more than a hint of irony in the fact that the 25th billion downloaded app from Apple's App Store was from China, a market where it is facing a legal fight over rights to a device that helped it reach this milestone.

It's been just four years since Apple launched its App Store and yesterday the company hit its 25th billionth download app, not surprisingly from China.

China boasts some of Apple's most profitable stores - despite the fact that it operates only five across Greater China region.

The 25 billionth app downloaded, Where's My Water?, was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China.

But ironically, China is where Apple is facing some of its toughest challenges. 

The tech giant is currently caught in a legal battle with Shenzhen Proview, which claimed ownership of the iPad name in China and has successfully lobbied some retail outlets to halt sales of the popular tablet device.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that if Proview prevails in the courts, Apple could be forced to pay US$400 million in damages as well as government fines. The report went on to say that authorities could also ban iPad sales in China as well as exports of the Chinese-made devices.

Apple said the downloads came from more than 315 million iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Follow @MarketingEds on Twitter for breaking news throughout the day.

Have something to say? Comment on our Facebook page or contact the writer at matte@marketing-interactive.com.