农历新年——中国农历最大的购物季——将在1月23日正式拉开大幕。苹果公司（apple）非常幸运地于本周三宣布将于下周五（即1月13日），在中国大陆（及其他21个国家和地区）开始销售iPhone 4S手机。

    苹果选择这一时机投放iPhone 4S手机，将使中国快速壮大的中产阶级在春节前将有10天的时间用来选购这款被视作本季最应入手的产品。2011年11月，iPhone 4S在香港仅仅用了10分钟就预售一空；一周后的正式发售更是遭到“排队专业户”和黄牛党的疯抢，他们大肆购进iPhone手机，以满足中国大陆这个世界上最大的手机市场的需求。

    截至目前，中国第二大运营商中国联通公司（China Unicome）是唯一获授权销售iPhone手机的公司。目前，苹果公司尚未透露通信巨头中国移动公司（China Mobile，占有70%的市场份额）或中国电信公司（China Telecom，占有10%的市场份额）销售iPhone手机的具体时间安排。

    下周五可销售iPhone 4S手机的其他21个国家分别是：安圭拉、安提瓜和巴布达、玻利维亚、博茨瓦纳、英属维尔京群岛、喀麦隆、开曼群岛、中非共和国、多米尼加、多米尼加共和国、厄瓜多尔、格林纳达、关岛、几内亚、象牙海岸、牙买加、肯尼亚、马达加斯加、马里、毛里求斯、尼日尔、塞内加尔、圣文森特和格林纳丁斯、特立尼达和多巴哥、特克斯和凯科斯以及乌干达。

    毋庸置疑，其中中国才是对苹果公司意义最为重大的国家。大中华区——苹果公司的定义包括香港、中国大陆和台湾——是增长速度最快的市场，自2010年以来，这一区域的销售额增长了270%。上一季度，苹果公司总收入为282.7亿美元，其中大中华区的贡献率为16%，即每六美元中有一美元的收入来自大中华区。

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    New Year's Day -- the biggest shopping event of the Chinese calendar -- falls on Jan. 23 this year. And in a piece of extraordinarily fortuitous timing, Apple (AAPL) announced Wednesday that it will launch the iPhone 4S on mainland China (and 21 other countries) next Friday, Jan. 13.

    That gives China's rapidly growing middle class 10 days to try to get their hands on what seems to be this season's must-have gadget. In Hong Kong, pre-orders for the iPhone 4S sold out in 10 minutes last November, and the launch the next week was overrun by line-sitters and smugglers buying iPhones by the bag-load to feed demand in the world's largest market for mobile phones.

    As of now, China Unicom (CHU), the country's second-largest carrier (20% market share) is the only one authorized to sell the iPhone. No word yet from Apple when the device will be available for giant China Mobile (CHL) (70% share) or China Telecom (CHA) (10%).

    The other 21 countries that will get the iPhone 4S next Friday are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

    But China is the country that matters most to Apple. Greater China -- which the company defines as Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan -- is its fastest-growing market, with sales up 270% since 2010. Last quarter, Greater China generated 16% of Apple's total $28.27 billion revenue, nearly one out of every six dollars.