Apple's new iPhone 6S sells out in China but faces $71m tax bill
There was good news and bad news for Apple in China this weekend.  Early data shows that within the first day of its launch, Apple's new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus sold out in China, with more sales than other regions including the US. This follows Apple's CEO Tim Cook's reassurance to investors last month that Apple's market in China was strong, in spite of an economic slowdown in the country.  However, at the same time, China's Ministry of Finance demanded the company's Chinese subsidiary pay RMB 452m ($71m) for its purportedly unpaid taxes since 2013, along with RMB 65m ($10m) as a fine in late fees.  China has said it is to become stricter on tax collection since last year, when Microsoft was ordered to pay around $137m in November 2014.  
Remember that time when Wall Street thought China's market meltdown would destroy Apple ?

The worry that Apple's next big market for iPhones was crashing sent shares tumbling and prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to write to CNBC's Jim Cramer on Aug. 24 to reassure investors. The market had every reason to worry. In the first nine months of Apple's fiscal year, the company more than $46 billion in sales came from Greater China (the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan) or more than 25 percent of its overall sales ($182.2 billion).



The day is barely over on the first day Apple's new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus was made available for pre-ordering globally and early data suggests Apple has little to worry. Demand is stronger in China than in most regions of the world including the U.S.



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According to this iPhone Inventory blog which tracks the back-order status of the various iPhone models by way of screen shots of Apple's estimated wait times as displayed on the Apple Store website, the wait time the big screen iPhone 6S Plus in China is running at three to four weeks, and two to three weeks for the 6S as of noon Pacific Time today.

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