Apple plans to open a store in Hong Kong next year

By Sumner Lemon | Jul 14, 2010  

Apple intends to open a retail store in Hong Kong as part of wider expansion plans in China.

 

In all, Apple plans to open up to 25 stores in China and Hong Kong by the end of 2011, said Jill Tan, an Apple spokeswoman. She didn't offer specific dates for when the new Apple stores would open in China or where they would be located, except for Hong Kong.

 

To meet its goal of opening 25 new shops, Apple will have to open more than one new store in China every month for the next year and a half.

 

Apple opened its second store in China over the weekend, with employees handing out free t-shirts to the first 5,000 people who visited the shop. Located in Shanghai, the store is one of Apple's largest anywhere and joins the company's first Chinese retail outlet, which opened in Beijing in 2008.

 

The aggressive retail expansion plan reflects the growing importance that Apple is putting on China, which has traditionally been a much smaller market for the company compared to other markets, such as the U.S., Europe and Japan.

 

There are currently 295 Apple retail stores, including the two shops in China, Tan said.

 

IDG News Service (Singapore Bureau)

Apple opens Shanghai store

By Sumner Lemon | Jul 13, 2010

Apple opened a retail store in Shanghai on Saturday, the company's second in China.

 

Pictures of the opening posted on Apple's Web site showed crowds of customers and onlookers lined up outside the Shanghai store's cylindrical glass entrance, where a spiral staircase leads down to the store below.

 

The Shanghai store is located in the Pudong financial district, on the eastern banks of the Huangpu River, which runs through the heart of the city. A symbol of the explosive growth seen in Shanghai over the last 20 years, Pudong is home to many of the city's newest and biggest skycrapers, including the Shanghai World Financial Centerr -- the tallest building in China.

 

The Shanghai store is Apple's second in China. The first, located in Beijing, was opened in 2008 just before the Summer Olympic Games began.

 

China remains a relatively small market for Apple compared to the U.S., Europe or Japan, but the company is expanding.

 

Last year, Apple signed a deal with operator China Unicom to sell the iPhone in China. And the company reportedly has plans to open a total of 20 retail stores in China by the end of next year, rising to 25 stores by 2012.

 

An Apple spokeswoman in Hong Kong didn't immediately return a call seeking comment on the company's retail plans in China.

 

IDG News Service (Singapore Bureau)