A report on the Wall Street Journal takes a look at how well the App Store is performing in China since the rather tepid launch of the country's first official iPhone contracts.

China Unicom apparently saw a very slow uptake on iPhones, which do have a 3G data connection but no wi-fi. This lack of wireless internet suggested sales might be equally slow, but evidence suggests that applications are selling quite well.

The large number of grey market handsets and rife piracy are still proving to be an issue with iPhone game and application sales, but software companies are all clamouring to take the number one spot.

So far a Chinese-to-English translator, a dating app, an RTS game and a public transport companion are all proving massively popular, and companies are predicting a bright future for the iPhone in China.

"Once wi-fi is allowed on future 3G iPhones and the price of handsets falls due to product life cycle, more subsidies or economies of scale, we will see the iPhone market in China go mainstream," said Frank Yu of Beijing-based developer Shouji Mobile.

The report also highlights that Chinese developers aren't just relying on local business, with some releasing games and applications in other regions to considerable success.