Apple appears to know the secret for capturing the hearts of Chinese customers. In China, iPhones not only outsold all other smartphones in the fourth quarter, it also beat Louis Vuitton and Hermès to become the most preferred gift choice among the country’s richest this year, according to China-based luxury publishing group Hurun Research. While the Chinese government’s crackdown on luxury gifts has weighed on the country’s spending on luxury goods, it also changed the spending habit of China’s wealthy people who now prefer more practical items like iPhones and watches, said the publishing group. “The upcoming Chinese New Year would be the peak of gift giving in China.....AppleAAPL, -0.03% has become the most eye-catching gift brand this year,” Hurun Research said in a statement. Apple’s South Korean rival Samsung also entered the top ten luxury gift brand choice for the first time as China’s wealthy people are now more interested in consumer electronics. An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.