Apple's flagship store in Beijing's upscale Sanlitun shopping district began selling the iPhone 5 for the first time on Friday in what was arguably the least eventful launch of an Apple device in the company’s four-year history in the Chinese capital.

Apple's China product launches have been raucous affairs. On the first day of iPhone 4S sales in January, a delay in the opening of the Sanlitun store sparked a near-riot that led the Cupertino, Calif. company to temporarily suspend sales of the device in its stores across China. That fracas followed a fight between customers and Sanlitun store employees in May 2011 that broke out as Apple was releasing the coveted white iPhone 4.

Friday's iPhone 5 launch was notable for a different kind of white: a rare accumulation of fresh snow that blanketed the nearly empty plaza outside the Sanlitun store.

At 8 am on Friday, when the store opened to hurrahs from employees, only two consumers stood inside a cordon set up by Apple, though they were joined by a desultory snow man someone had made on a bench near the entrance. It's not clear how much of the low turnout was attributable to the weather, how much to slack initial excitement for the device, and how much to the steps Apple has taken to smooth out the process of releasing products in China.

Apple recently added new stores in Beijing and the southern city of Shenzhen, with another one set to open soon in the southwestern city of Chengdu. The company has also changed how it releases its most popular products in China, requiring customers to apply online a day before to buy new devices and those selected are given a time window in which they can come out to get the phone. Those selected are given a time window in which they can come out to pick up their purchase.

Tian Jisheng, one of the two waiting in the cold when the store opened, said the lottery was competitive. He said he used four identities to apply for phones, but was only given an appointment for one. 'I thought I didn't get it, but then after 8 pm I received a notice I had gotten one,' he said.

Mr. Tian wasn't visibly excited, but he said he was happy when he emerged from the store with his new, black iPhone 5. He said he was surprised there wasn't a larger crowd.

The cheapest model of the iPhone 5 is retailing for 5288 yuan ($850) in China, well above the $650 selling price in the U.S. The mark-up is one reason many Chinese going abroad purchase phones to bring back to the country. It also may help explain why one Chinese woman was recently Tasered at an Apple store in New Hampshire after insisting that she be allowed to buy more than two iPhone 5s.

High demand for Apple devices in China in the past has meant unauthorized resellers can turn a profit even by buying marked-up products direct from Apple's retail stores in China. The same scalpers who kicked, swatted and pushed a Wall Street Journal reporter at the iPad Mini release last week were also at the store Friday morning, sharing jokes with security guards. As of 9:30 am the scalpers didn't seem to have gotten their hands on any of the new phones. Instead they walked a mysterious circuit by the store, disappearing into an underground mall, only to come out through a different exit.

In China, Apple remains king of the high-end smartphone, but its status has slowly lost market share to phones running Google Inc.'s Android operating system offered by companies like Samsung Electronics Co. Android claimed 56% of the market for phones priced above 3,000 yuan ($480) in the third quarter, while Apple had 42%, according to research firm Analysys International. Android phones accounted for 2.8 million handsets, while iPhones totaled 2.1 million.

Apple's China sales were $5.7 billion in the fiscal quarter through September, roughly 16% of the company's global total. Chief Executive Tim Cook said in October that China continued to be a strong area of growth.

Wayne Ma/The Wall Street Journal周五上午，北京三里屯苹果专卖店外的苹果员工。
苹果公司(Apple)在北京高端购物区三里屯的旗舰店周五开始销售iPhone 5。这可以说是苹果进入中国首都四年以来最平静的一次产品首发。

苹果在中国的产品首发一直都是闹哄哄的。今年1月iPhone 4S开卖第一天，因为三里屯店推迟开门，差点引起一场骚乱，迫使这家加州库珀蒂诺公司在其中国专卖店暂停销售这款手机。之前的2011年5月，在苹果开卖备受追捧的白色iPhone 4时，三里屯专卖店的客户和员工发生了斗殴。

本周五iPhone 5的首发因为另外一种白色而引人注意：少见的新鲜积雪铺满了三里屯专卖店外几乎空无一人的购物广场。

周五上午8点，当这家专卖店在员工的欢呼声中开张时，只有两名消费者站在苹果拉起的警戒线之内，不过入口附近一条长凳上还有一个没精打采的雪人。不清楚顾客不多可以在多大程度上归因于天气，多大程度上归因于消费者一开始对iPhone 5热情不高，以及多大程度上归因于苹果在中国为维持首发秩序而采取的措施。

最近北京和南方城市深圳都有新的苹果专卖店开业，另一家专卖店也将于不久之后在西南城市成都开张。苹果还调整了它在中国最热门产品的开售方式，要求客户在购买新产品之前提前一天在网上申请，抽中的人可以在规定的期限内来取手机。

田吉胜（音）是专卖店开门时在寒冷中等待的两人之一。他说，摇号竞争激烈，他用了四张身份证申请，结果只有一张中签。他说，我以为没戏了，但晚上八点过后接到通知说我中了一部。

Wayne Ma/The Wall Street Journal关于iPhone 5是否能帮助苹果夺回其在中国智能手机市场中失去的份额，这位雪人先生不予置评。田吉胜并没有表现得很兴奋，但他说，当他拿着新买的黑色iPhone 5从商店里走出来时，他感到很高兴。他还说，没有出现更多人排队购买的情形让他有些意外。

在中国大陆，最便宜的iPhone 5零售价格也达到人民币5288元（合850美元），远高于美国的650美元。许多中国人都会在出国时购买iPhone 5，然后带回国内。国内价格较高就是背后的一个原因。这也可能有助于解释不久前一位中国妇女在美国新罕布什尔州一家苹果零售店被警察使用电击枪的事件。当时这位妇女坚持认为她应该被允许购买超过两部iPhone 5。

苹果产品过去在中国需求旺盛，那些非授权经销商甚至可以从苹果零售店直接购买产品后再加价出售，并从中获利。上周苹果在中国推出iPad Mini时，一些黄牛党曾经推搡《华尔街日报》的一位记者，并对其拳脚相待。上述黄牛党周五早间也在苹果零售店，并和那里的保安开玩笑。到上午9:30，这些黄牛党似乎没有在新手机上得手。他们在零售店外神秘地兜着圈子，走进一家地下商场，然后又从另一个出口出来。

在中国，苹果依然是高端智能手机之王。但三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)等公司出售的、使用谷歌(Google Inc.)安卓(Android)操作系统的手机正在慢慢侵蚀苹果的市场份额。研究公司易观国际(Analysys International)的数据显示，第三季度，在售价超过人民币3,000元（合480美元）的手机中，安卓手机市场份额达56%，苹果市场份额则为42%。安卓手机销量为280万部，iPhone为210万部。

在苹果截至9月份的财政季度中，来自中国的销售额达到57亿美元，相当于该公司全球销售总额的大约16%。苹果首席执行长库克(Tim Cook)在10月份曾说，中国仍就是一个增长强劲的地区。