More people are using personalized ways to tabulate passage of time

Traditional wall calendars are disappearing from the market, as more personalized calendars and calendar smartphone apps have been growing in popularity.

Traditional calendars' limited functionality and consumption behavior shifts are responsible for the change, a Chongqing Economic Times report says.

The industry will take an additional hit next year, as 2013 is the Year of the Snake - a Chinese zodiac animal that's much less beloved than many others, such as the dragon, the report says.

Some retailers have decided to stop selling wall calendars next year.

Entrepreneurs are cashing in on the shift. A growing number of online and print shops have been offering calendar customization services in recent years.

The online print shop Kachayu, for instance, provides 12 backgrounds. Clients can upload their own photos and decide the layout. The shop then prints them and delivers them for free.

More than 19,000 customized calendars are offered on Taobao.com, China's largest online retailer. The website's records show it sells more than 10,000 DIY calendars a month at an average price of 25 yuan ($4) apiece.

A print shop in Beijing's Chaoyang district offers an increasingly typical service in which customers receive personalized calendars within two hours of placing their orders.

Traditional calendars' waning popularity is partly caused by the advances of the Internet and proliferation of smartphones, the Chongqing Economic Times report says.

Web and smartphone users can easily find useful calendar software and applications. The Apple Store alone offers more than 500 Chinese calendar apps for the iPhone.

Some apps integrate schedule reminders, calendars, weather forecasts and other services, providing more options for customers.

Contact the writer at jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn.

jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/03/2013 page7)