Apple to Open 25 New Stores in China in the Next 2 Years

Tim Cook is in China this week, where he announced plans to open 25 new Apple stores in its Greater China region in the next two years.

The chief executive made his remarks to Sina, a Chinese online media company. Currently, Apple has 15 stores in its Greater China region, which includes the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Cook met with Vice Premier Ma Kai and toured facilities that produce Apple devices. On Twitter, Cook posted a photo of himself with a factory worker as she assembled an iPhone 6.

“Great to meet talented people like Zhang Fan, who helps make iPhone 6 in Zhengzhou. An early highlight of this trip,” Cook tweeted.

After a short delay, Apple began selling the iPhone 6 and 6s in China on Oct. 17; the new phones were released in the U.S. and several other countries a few weeks earlier, on Sept. 19.

Apple is keenly interested in increasing its footprint in China, the world’s second-largest economy.

The Cupertino, Calif., company reported fourth-quarter results on Monday, and said it pulled in revenue of $5.8 billion in the Greater China region, which accounted for 14 percent of the company’s total revenue. Revenue growth was 1 percent from the year-earlier quarter.

This article appeared in print in the October 24th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.