On Tuesday, it was announced by Apple that it has introduced online Apple store and App store for customers of China, a significant move by the Company after ignoring the Chinese market for a long time.

With the facility launched, the Chinese customers are now able to order Apple products online and getting an easy product delivery. Apple will be supplying iPhones in China in one to two weeks, while the iPads will be delivered in 24 hours.

Earlier, the customers had to order products on Apple's Chinese website, which they had to pick from any of the Apple's four mainland Chinese Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

In 2009, Apple had only one store in China and it was dependent on authorized resellers for the sale of its products. The Company is planning to open 25 Apple Stores in the country by the next year.

China is a fast-growing smartphone market, so with the strategic moves of Apple, the Company is endeavouring to increase its market share in the country.

As per research firm Analysys International, in the second-quarter Apple captured 7.1% of China’s market for smartphones and ranked fifth after Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Inc. and Sony Ericsson.

The launch of Chinese version of Apple's Chinese App Store has also been made to facilitate Chinese users to buy software applications for their iPhones, iPads and iPods. But, the purchases can be made with dual-currency credit cards, which can result in problems such as hacking of iPhones and deceitful use of App Store.