Chinese customers look at iPhone 4S in the newly opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district on October 20, 2012 in Beijing.Feng Li—Getty Images
Apple now ranks as China’s most coveted luxury brand, according to a recently released survey of the nation’s millionaire shoppers.
The device maker shouldered aside all of the old mandarins of the luxury market, including Louis Vuitton, Cartier and the previous year’s winner, Hermes, according to the Hurun Research Institute’s annual survey of 347 ultra-wealthy individuals. Individuals whose net worth exceeded 10 million RMB (equivalent to $1.6 million) ranked Apple as the “best” brand of gift giving to men and women.
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People pass time as they wait outside an Apple store for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in London on Sept. 17, 2014. Lefteris Pitarakis—APPeople wait in line in front of the Apple Store in Tokyo on Sept. 18, 2014.Yuya Shino—ReutersA man sleeps in a tent in the queue outside an Apple store in London on Sept. 18, 2014.Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty ImagesA man wearing a replica of an iPhone 6 Plus model on his head yawns while waiting in front of an Apple Store in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014.Yuya Shino—ReutersA woman sleeps in a chair as she waits in queue outside the Apple store in London on Sept. 18, 2014. Justin Tallis—AFP/Getty ImagesA staff member removes a display poster of iPhone 5S at an Apple store in Tokyo on Sept. 18, 2014,.Yuya Shino—ReutersCustomers queue outside an Apple store in Hong Kong on Sept. 19, 2014. Xaume Ollerose—AFP/Getty ImagesKen Miyauchi Vice President of Softbank, Japanese mobile phone company and actress Sayaka Kanda, in a pink dress, react during a ceremony to mark the first day of sales of the latest iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at a store in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014.Shizuo Kambayashi—APAfter being first in line for 19 days, Moon Ray, from Jackson, Miss. runs the gauntlet of Apple store workers as she enters the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York on Sept. 19, 2014.Peter Foley—EPAApple store staff high five customers as they enter an store in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesA man wearing a mask depicting Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs holds up a cardboard cut-out of Apple's new iPhone 6, as he walks into an Apple Store in Tokyo on Sept. 18, 2014.Yuya Shino—ReutersAndreas Gibson celebrates as he exits an Apple store in New York after being the first to purchase an iPhone 6 Plus on Sept. 19, 2014. Julie Jacobson—APJamael Ahmed jumps in the air as he leaves the store after being the first to purchase the iPhone 6 at Apple Covent Gardens in London on Sept. 19, 2014.Ben A. Pruchnie—Getty Images
“The upcoming Chinese New Year would be the peak of gift giving in China,” Hurun Research said. “Apple has become the most eye-catching gift brand this year.”
And in a sign that Apple could be sailing toward the perfect storm of gift giving, the most popular category of gifts for men this year was watches. The Apple Watch comes out this year.
