Shanghai Daily reports:

Apple, which plans to open its first Apple Store in Beijing later this year, sold its first MacBook Air, starting from 16,988 yuan (US$2,392), in Shanghai yesterday even though the Air price hasn’t been updated in its Chinese-language Website.

A week or two ago, on my way out to dinner, I saw an ad for an Apple MacBook Air at a corner digital signboard. At some busy intersections in Shanghai there are digital signboards, about two meters tall. They target drivers and passengers stuck in traffic. I can’t remember if they’re operated by JCDecaux or some other annoyer.

Although iPod advertisements are common, it was the first time I’d seen these signs advertising for an Apple laptop. Apple is due to open one of its experience stores in Beijing later this year. It would seem that Apple is gingerly entering the top end of China’s laptop market.

While China Mobile and Apple have gone back and forth ad nauseam over selling iPhones in China, gray market iPhones cracked for use in China are stacked like pancakes in Shanghai’s computer malls.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the MacBook Air in Shanghai sells at about a US$600 premium over its price in America.

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