Apple to begin selling the iPhone 4S officially in China on January 13th, 2012. I said officially because the black market has already had their fill of the 4S for months since the introduction of the 4S in the US back in October. Furthermore, more than twenty countries and territories will be also be getting the 4S on that Friday.
While the iPhone 4S going on sale isn’t typically something most read unless its your turn to get it, this is China after all, the Middle Kingdom with its hundreds of millions potential smartphone users – not the typically 2 or 3 hundred million users like the US or the EU.
I’m talking about big as in like 700 to 800 million users.
Granted not all of them will be going iOS overnight or ever. But a couple of hundred million of them could. And that means lots of iPhones, iPads, and whatever else iOS Apple has cooking up.
Again, why is iPhone 4S selling in China a big deal to me, the average mobile warrior?
That’s because Apple will likely have to dedicate more and more resources to cater to the average Chinese user. And that will influence the course of our mobile experience. No longer will Western markets have the dominant say in development.
Furthermore, I expect the window between future US and Chinese launches for iPhones and iPads to shrink. Already, we’ve seen that with the iPhone 4S availability in China within a few days of the iPhone 4 launch. It would have been shorter had it not been for regulatory issues. Otherwise, the iPhone 4S could have been made available in December of 2011.
Another thing. Learn Mandarin, the official language of China. That’s what I reckon Siri is working hard to learn right now among a few dozen other languages. Totally expect the Chinese language to be a part of this development shift at Cupertino.
Furthermore, while the iPhone is designed in California, expect more of iOS to be developed in Asia with its unsatiable appetite for all things Apple.
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