China is one of the most important markets for Apple, the American company generating from there approximately 10% of its quarterly sales. In a country with over 1 billion inhabitants, Apple has 6 stores open and those from Reuters calculates that there is 1 store for every 216 million Chinese. The publication claims that these stores are generally overcrowded by the very large number of customers who visit them, but Apple is working hard on the construction of other stores, its representatives saying that by the end of the year it should open 19 more in the region.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Apple Inc has more retail stores in Pennsylvania than in all of China - where it earns a fifth of its revenue - and a slow pace of expansion may cost the firm more than just sales. Apple's six stores in Greater China are routinely packed, and customers often wait in long lines for iPhone repairs. Scalpers are known to camp out to be first in line for new products, which they then re-sell for a tidy profit.
Making a slightly forced comparison, the people from Reuters say that in the American state of Pennsylvania Apple has more stores than in the whole of China, but it is easier to open a store in your own country than in a country where certain laws do not have much value. Of course, in the future Apple will increase its presence in China and build more stores, but for now the Chinese are struggling with what they have.
