China focus: Apple Watch, China's new addiction?

Like every Apple product, the smart Apple Watch unveiled this week caught the eye of tech fans in China, the second-largest iPhone market after the U.S..

At the San Francisco launch, Apple Inc. tried to impress Chinese consumers with its intense focus on China, promoting a new store at the West Lake in Hangzhou city and demonstrating hit Chinese messaging app WeChat on the timepiece. It is a rarity for China to be on the list of nine markets that see first sales of the Apple Watch beginning April 24.

But Apple's first wearable product has not yet won over the hearts and minds of some Chinese customers, with a large number of online users unsatisfied with its hefty price tag, small screen and nature of being "an appurtenance of iPhone."

Zhang Dongdong, a 32-year-old tech fan from Beijing, said he had his eye on the mid-level Apple Watch Steel version for a while, but was a little bit disappointed after the product launch.

"It's not a good deal to pay more than 4000 yuan (649.5 U.S. dollars) for such a digital watch whose battery only last 18 hours on a single charge," Zhang said.

"The device has no killer functions, why do I bother to operate what my iPhone can do on such a small screen?" He added.

Apart from the regular version, Apple also has the Sport model that costs more than 2500 yuan and the top-end luxury Edition with a price tag up to 126,800 yuan.

It is the luxury watch that has become the centerpiece of online discussion, sparking banter among the Internet users.

"Guess what? when I was a kid, I never expected that I could not even afford to pay for such a small digital watch once I grow up," said one of the hot posts on China's microblog Sina Weibo.

Despite a downbeat tone in conversation, it is too early to say the Apple Watch will not be a new addiction in this Apple-crazed country.

The newly released wearable device has also attracted major Chinese internet companies that are preparing to enjoy the favorable tailwind brought by the Apple Watch.

Tencent's WeChat, Alibaba's Alipay and Taobao are among the first applications compatible with Apple Watch. Moreover, Alibaba's B2C platform Tmall has confirmed that it will sell all models of Apple Watch with other authorized sellers in the world.

In addition, Alipay has completed developing the applicable version for Apple Watch, which allows Chinese users to make payment on the device, check foreign exchange rates and returns from the money market fund operated by Alipay, Yuebao. Endi