Nike--Not Apple--Is A Bellwether of China's Economy

Apple's iPhone 5 is not yet officially on sale in China. But within five hours of it becoming available in Hong Kong, the Chinese “grey market” was heating-up with sales of the handsets that were supposedly smuggled across the border. This kind of demand, especially in a place where counterfeit luxury goods are easy to come by, has led to the assumption that prospects for parts of the Chinese consumer market remain strong despite rapidly-slowing growth in the overall economy. Gauging...