BEIJING - With Christmas right around the corner, retail outlets in the United States and China hope the holiday season pays off. But they aren't the only ones.

More than 120,000 iOS app developers in China have long been preparing to sell new apps in the App Store, the open platform of Apple Inc.

Ren Gang, CEO of Haypi Co Ltd, has spent more than $500,000 on advertisements during the holidays for his company's two new apps, Haypi Dragon and Haypi Store, which are both multiplayer strategy games.

The innovative Shanghai-based developer of entertainment software is the creator of one of the most popular apps in the App Store, Haypi Dragon. Ren says each month, the Haypi series makes approximately $700,000 in revenue.

To Ren and to a throng of Chinese app developers, Christmas is an important business opportunity that can't be missed. Ren says revenue from his Haypi series on Christmas last year spiked to seven or eight times his normal monthly intake to about $160,000 to $180,000.

According to developers in China who spoke with China Daily, there are more than 120,000 developers in the nation. Many, they say, are beginning to compete against each other and with developers from other countries not just over the spoils of Christmas, but for what they believe is an untapped Chinese market.

"Apple does not promote your apps on normal days," says Sun Peilin, an analyst with Analysys International, a Beijing-based consultancy firm. "But during the holidays, Apple highlights some holiday-themed apps. This is a great chance for Chinese developers since the majority of them are still struggling to get the word out (about their apps)."

Apple has undoubtedly transformed the handheld mobile device industry, but it has also created a buying frenzy in China for the popular iPhone and iPad. As purchases of the devices increase, so have the purchases of apps.

Apple's sales to China from September 2010 to September 2011 increased six times over the prior year, to $8.8 billion, according to the Motley Fool, a financial-services company based in the US.

With a growing market for apps in China and a very developed market overseas, Chinese developers are just looking to step into the Chinese market after spending most of their efforts toward overseas consumers. Their first targets - Christmas shoppers.

"For big players, Christmas is a normal chance to promote their leading apps," says Wu Gang, CEO of WiSTONE Wireless Entertainment Inc, the developer of War 2 Victory.

Though Ren's apps are not designed for Christmas, he says he has enough confidence that they will survive the onslaught of holiday-themed apps.

China Daily