Employees are seen reading a notebook in front of an Apple logo at a mobile phone store in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. Apple plans to increase the number of its retail stores in China to 40 from 15 within two years, chief executive Tim Cook said yesterday.
Dow Jones/Beijing
Apple Inc plans to increase the number of its Apple-brand retail stores in China to 40 from 15 within two years, Chief Executive Tim Cook said yesterday.
In an interview with Chinese news portal Sina.com, Cook said the Cupertino, Calif., gadget maker will also increase investment in China by an unspecified amount.
“In the future China will become Apple’s biggest revenue contributor,” he said, according to Sina.com. “It’s just a matter of time.”
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the remarks. Mianland China includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.
China is Apple’s third-largest market after the US and Europe and is an important growth driver for the company. Its revenue growth in China, however, slowed sharply in the latest quarter ahead of the release of its new iPhone, which was delayed by regulators in China until this month.
Cook’s trip is being portrayed by some Chinese media outlets as part of the company’s attempt to assuage concerns the Chinese government or public might have about the security of data stored on its phones. In July, state broadcaster China Central Television called a location-tracking function on the iPhone a “national security concern.” Apple has said it doesn’t keep user data.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Cook and China’s Vice Premier Ma Kai “exchanged views on protection of users’ information” when they met on Wednesday.
Apple faces intense competition in China from South Korean company Samsung Electronics as well as Chinese manufacturers. Apple ranked No 6 in China’s smartphone market in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.
Cook said Apple currently had 7,000 employees in China serving 750,000 customers a day in 15 Apple-branded stores. “You could say they’re the world’s busiest retail stores,” he said.
The report also cited him as saying on Monday he would meet with Jack Ma, the founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which raised $25bn in its recent US initial public offering.
