Apple failing to exploit Chinese market

Apple is missing out on the Chinese market, according to rival electronics company Lenovo.

Liu Chuanzhi, founder and chairman of Lenovo, said in an interview with The Financial Times that Apple had largely ignored China, thanks mainly to the personality of its chief executive.

"We are lucky that Steve Jobs has such a bad temper and doesn't care about China," he's reported as saying. "If Apple were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do, we would be in trouble."

Apple products are popular in China, according to the report, but have only limited availability.

For example, the Phone is available only through China Unicom, the second largest mobile operator in the country, and products are often limited to sale in Apple's handful of official stores.

Lenovo has reacted to this by launching its own handset in China. Chuanzhi explained that the Lephone will make up in availability what it lacks in apps.

"This is a very practical thing. The iPhone has more than 100,000 content providers, and we have no more than 1,000," he said. "But our Chinese customers feel that our applications are very convenient to use."

Apple UK has not responded to calls for comment.