Can Beethoven, Bach and Mozart help iPhone sales in China? Apple to launch classical music app on mainland amid sluggish demand for its flagship product

The Apple Music Classical app, which was launched in most markets globally in March last year, will make its mainland debut on January 24

On the same date, the app will also be available in five other East Asian markets that include Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea

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The Apple Music Classical app’s launch in China is likely to bolster the firm’s major digital services business in the country, which is its largest market in terms of App Store-related revenue. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00pm, 10 Jan 2024

Apple will soon make its classical music app available in mainland China, expanding the US tech giant’s digital services offering in the world’s largest smartphone market where sales of the iPhone are seeing a deepening decline.

The Apple Music Classical app, which was launched in most markets globally in March last year, will make its mainland debut on January 24, according to the company’s online China App Store. The app – touted by Apple as the world’s largest classical music catalogue, with more than five million tracks – can now be pre-ordered by iPhone users in the country.

On the same date, the stand-alone app will also be available in five other East Asian markets that include Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, according to a post on Tuesday by Apple on X, formerly Twitter.

The app’s launch is likely to bolster Apple’s major digital services business in China, which remains the company’s largest market in terms of App Store-related revenue.

China generated US$570 billion, or 51 per cent, of total billings and sales facilitated by Apple’s App Store ecosystem in 2022, according to a study by consulting firm Analysis Group that was published in May 2023. Photo: Agence France-Presse

China accounted for US$570 billion, or 51 per cent, of the total US$1.1 trillion in billings and sales facilitated by the App Store ecosystem in 2022, according to a study by consulting firm Analysis Group that was published on Apple’s website in May last year.

By comparison, the United States generated US$273 billion, or almost 25 per cent, of the App Store ecosystem’s overall billings and sales in 2022. Europe accounted for US$119 billion, or 11 per cent, of that year’s total.

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