May have triggered ripple effect for iPhone, iPad

The MacBook Air has been selling extremely well in Hong Kong since its debut there this week, says Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. The computer is said to have generated long lineups and stock-outs, and possibly even created a halo effect for other Apple products. Stores in the city are said to have been sold out of the iPhone 4, and some models of the iPad 2 as well.

The sales bode well for the rest of China, White suggests. Checks reportedly indicate that the Air will launch in some mainland Chinese stores -- including Apple's -- as early as next week, and more broadly in September. White argues that the Air is "poised to be a big hit in the greater China region" as "more consumers can increasingly afford to own a PC." While most of China is still too poor to afford a computer, affluence has been growing and the country's massive population is still a relatively untapped market.

Backing the notion of a wider Chinese release next week are Apple resellers in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, which are said to be out of last-generation Airs. Like some other electronics makers, Apple tends to let old stock dwindle and evaporate in the run-up to a new launch.

by MacNN Staff