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Tencent’s WeChat<\/a> said on Tuesday that iPhone maker Apple<\/a> had opened a store on its social media platform, marking an expansion of the U.S. firm’s retail channels in the world’s second-largest economy.<\/p>\n The announcement by WeChat, China’s dominant messaging app which also provides e-commerce, livestreaming and payment services, said users would be able to buy Apple products including iPhones, iPads and Macs from the store.<\/p>\n Apple and Tencent<\/a> did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.<\/p>\n The move by Apple comes as Chinese consumers increasingly turn to social media platforms such as WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok<\/a>, to shop.<\/p>\n Besides its own stores and website, Apple already operates a shop on Alibaba Group’s Tmall online marketplace. Apple also tried marketing its products on a live stream in China for the first time in May with an hour-long show.<\/p>\n China’s smartphone sales in the first quarter fell 5 percent year on year, marking the lowest first-quarter sales figure for the country since 2014, according to data from Counterpoint Research.<\/p>\n However, during the quarter Apple recorded a 19.9 percent share of the Chinese smartphone market – its biggest since 2014 – as it increased sales by 6 percent year-on-year in a declining market, the research firm said.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2023<\/em><\/p>\n