Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has started offering its music streaming service along with electronic books and movies in China yesterday. Apple Music will begin with a trial period of three-months, and once that period ends, users will be charged 10 yuan per month. That is just a fraction of the price between $10 to $14 users pay in the United States.
The service will include regional artists such as Eason Chan and Li Ronghao in China besides international singers such as Taylor Swift. People there can also rent movies, English and Chinese, by paying 5 yuan apiece.
Users living in China with a foreign Apple ID, for instance from the United States, would be able to download tracks from AAPL’s online store. Albums and songs are not available for users of iPhone and iPad with a local Chinese Apple ID.
The company reported in a statement on Wednesday that for the first time, users in China will be able to access the AAPL’s entertainment ecosystem with books, music and movies right at their fingertips.
The iPhone maker’s music service will compete in the country with a number of local services providing free access to music.
Apple set a record by selling 13 million units of its latest iPhone versions in the first weekend, helped by the availability of the devices in China. The company’s officials are optimistic about the market, despite China’s slowest pace of growth in years.
The company is making efforts to increase the number of retail stores in China by two folds by mid-2016. The iPhone maker said it would tailor its online services for the smartphone users in the country. AAPL’s senior VP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue said the company is excited to launch music, movies and books in the country.
