Apple opens store on Alibaba’s Tmall

In its latest attempt to boost China sales, Apple Inc. opened an official store on Tmall, a major online marketplace run by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

天猫是中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团运营的大型网上商城。

Tmall, launched in 2008, is a shopping website that hosts more than 70,000 merchants, including global brands like Nike Inc. and Gap Inc. Apple's new Tmall storefront has a design similar to its own Chinese online store.

天猫2008年开业，入驻的商户数量超过7万家，其中包括耐克和Gap Inc.等全球知名品牌。苹果天猫官方旗舰店的页面设计与其中国官方网站相似。

An Alibaba spokeswoman confirmed that the Tmall page is indeed Apple's and that it opened recently, but declined to comment further. An Apple spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment.

阿里巴巴集团一名发言人证实，天猫的上述网店确为苹果所开，刚刚开业，但没有进一步置评。记者未能立即联系到苹果发言人置评。

Analysts and investors are expecting stronger China sales for Apple, as China Mobile Ltd., the world's largest mobile carrier with more than 700 million subscribers, will start selling iPhone on Jan. 17. Access to China Mobile's customer base could give Apple a much-needed boost, as the U.S. company faces fierce competition in China from not only Samsung Electronics Co., but also a host of Chinese smartphone makers that offer inexpensive Android phones with advanced features. In the third quarter of 2013, Apple ranked fifth in China's smartphone market with a 6% share by units sold, behind Samsung and several Chinese players, according to research firm Canalys. 

分析师和投资者们目前预计苹果在中国的销售将增加，因为拥有超过7亿用户的全球最大移动运营商中国移动将于1月17日开始销售iPhone。获得接触中国移动用户群的渠道有望给苹果带来亟需的提振，因为该公司在中国面临激烈竞争，对手不仅有三星电子，也包括一些中国智能手机制造商，后者提供拥有高级功能的安卓系统手机。研究公司Canalys的数据显示，2013年第三季度，按手机销量计算，苹果在中国市场的占有率为6%，排名第五，落后于三星电子和几家中国公司。

Apple already runs its own online store in China, but its new Tmall store could provide a new channel to reach China's fast-growing population of online shoppers. 

苹果在中国已开设了自己的在线商店，不过在天猫的官方旗舰店有望开辟一条接触数量快速增长的中国网购人群的新渠道。

Alibaba's two shopping sites, Taobao and Tmall, are dominant in China, which some researchers say is close to overtaking the U.S. as the world's biggest e-commerce market. Shoppers go to Taobao, a gigantic marketplace with seven million merchants and 800 million item listings, to look for low prices and surprises, while Tmall is more like an online department store with trusted brand names. 

阿里巴巴集团旗下两家网上商城淘宝和天猫在中国电子商务市场占据主导地位。一些研究人士称，中国即将取代美国成为全球最大的电子商务市场。淘宝拥有700万卖家，出售的商品达8亿种，人们在此可以买到低价和新奇的东西。天猫类似一个在线百货商店，出售可以信赖的品牌产品。

Tmall requires each seller to pay a deposit, an annual service fee and charges a commission on each transaction. 

天猫要求每个卖家支付一笔保证金和服务年费，并对每笔交易收取佣金。

In another move that could get Chinese consumers in the mood to shop, Apple is gearing up for its Jan. 10 Red Friday promotions, an annual special discount event before Lunar New Year celebrations. On its official website, Apple describes it simply as a 'special one-day shopping event' but doesn't provide any information on what discounts it will offer on what products. The company is holding the event in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.  

苹果还在为其1月10日的“红色星期五”促销活动做准备。红色星期五是苹果每年举行的特别折扣活动。在苹果的官方网站上，红色星期五被描述为“仅此一日的Apple特别购物日”，未披露具体折扣力度以及哪些产品将参与打折活动。该活动举办地点为中国大陆、香港和台湾。