China has increasingly been an important part of the tech world. Specifically, given the huge market that China is, it has immense potential for tech companies to market and sell their products. This is now manifest in the fact that in terms of total smartphone shipments, China has surpassed US to secure the top spot. And it has accomplished this with the help of huge sales that iPhone 4S is triggering.
Apple has been releasing its new iPad in a lot of countries, though in phases. This shows Apple's ambition to go really global, by ensuring the presence of its products in as many countries as possible. The primary bone of contention, when launching a device in a country, is to strike a deal with the local authorities as well as carriers. Apparently, Apple has accomplished both when it comes to Taiwan.
We had been told earlier that Baidu search was coming to Mac OS X in its next version. And now, it has been reported that most probably, Apple will also be introducing the option of Baidu search in its iOS mobile operating system the next month. Although this doesn't come from a very reliable source and is just a rumor, but it does makes sense.
Currently, Apple has one official carrier at China and has nearly sealed a deal with another major mobile carrier in the country. However, the largest carrier in China is China Mobile and Apple hasn't been able to reach a deal with it yet, though there is hope this may happen soon. What's interesting is that although the carrier is not iPhone's official carrier, it has some 15 million subscribers who are using iPhone 4S. Some of these users has problems receiving signals on their devices and Apple responded promptly to resolve this problem.
The fate of iPad sales in China has been pretty much on the line as Apple and Proview engage in a legal battle over the rights to iPad trademark. Proview is of the opinion that it holds the rights to the trademark in China and is seeking $2 billion from Apple for violating these rights. Apple, on the other hand, has stated that it purchased these rights years ago and that Proview's allegations are false. Now, the People's Court in Shanghai has rejected Proview's preliminary injunctions to bad iPad sales. This means that for now, Apple can continue with iPad sales in China unabated.
The legal battle between Proview Technology and Apple is raging in China. Both companies are locked in a dispute over the trademark rights of 'iPad.' Proview claims that it originally owns the rights for iPad trademark in China whereas Apple is of the opinion that it purchased the rights from Proview years ago. Now, the Intermediate People's Court in Chinese city of Huizhou has ruled that distributors should immediately stop selling iPad devices in China.
Apple has been in troubled waters in China where Proview has launched an aggressive campaign against the company. Proview claims that iPad trademark that is being used by Apple is actually the property of Proview. Apple says that yes, it was once the property of Proview but then Apple purchased it.
Apple has been entangled in a dispute with Shenzhen Proview Technology over the use of term 'iPad.' Proview had earlier claimed that it had rights over the term and that Apple was illegally using it. Apple then countered this by stating that it had purchased the rights to use this term by purchasing it from another company which, in turn, had bought it from Proview. Now, apparently, the authorities have determined that the rights of the purchase Apple made doesn't extend to China and Proview indeed has a valid claim. Chinese authorities have started seizing iPad devices from the market.
Apparently with so much money rolling into Apple's pockets, the number of contenders has also increased at the same rate. Proview has long been after Apple claiming that the iPad trademark that has been used by Apple is actually owned by Proview and that Apple is illegally using it. Proview registered the iPad trademark in 2000 whereas Apple launched iPad in 2010. Apple has already been denied the right to use the term 'iPad' in China but Apple has now appealed against the decision.
Scalpers have been a huge nuisance for Apple in China. When a few days ago Apple had plans of launching iPhone 4S in it's Beijing store, the same scalpers gathered in front of the store and created such an uproar that Apple postponed the release. Now Apple is selling the phone through it's online store and through other retailers. The scalpers are equally efficient online too. They keep pinging Apple's servers whole day and as soon as Apple starts accepting reservations, their bots go for it within minutes. To avoid this, Apple has introduced a new system to reserve an iPhone.