Apple boosts Chinese social media presence with RedNote account ahead of iPhone 17 launch

Apple has joined the popular Chinese social platform RedNote, known as China’s answer to Instagram, in the US tech giant’s latest bid to strengthen its brand presence in the competitive mainland market ahead of the launch of the iPhone 17.

After publishing its first post on Saturday morning, the verified Apple account has amassed more than 200,000 followers on RedNote, a site known for its young, tech-savvy and trend-conscious user base.

Earlier this year RedNote gained worldwide fame, especially in the United States, after many TikTok users signed up for the app in a form of protest against a then-looming ban on TikTok. The ban, which was supposed to take effect on January 19, has been extended three times by US President Donald Trump, as Washington, Beijing, and owner ByteDance work on a deal to divest its American operations.

Apple’s post on RedNote, which came with an animated video of its logo, invited netizens to share their stories with the company. It did not provide any information on existing or upcoming products.

The new account marks Apple’s latest social media exposure in mainland China. In 2018, the company opened an official account on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, marketed locally as Weixin, and four years later it had a presence on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

On microblogging platform Weibo, the company is represented by chief executive Tim Cook’s personal account, which was opened in 2015 and has 1.8 million followers. Apple runs another Weibo account named Apple Support, which offers information on device maintenance and operating system updates.