“Apple Inc. is opening stores in the China region at a quarter the pace it forecast 19 months ago, giving rival makers of smartphones and tablet computers time to gain users in the world’s biggest mobile-phone market,” Bloomberg News reports.
“Apple opens its third store in Shanghai today and its first one in Hong Kong tomorrow, bringing the total to six in a region with the company’s highest-grossing outlets,” Bloomberg News reports. “That compares with the 25 stores that Ron Johnson, then Apple’s head of retail, said last year the company targeted by February 2012.”
Bloomberg News reports, “The iPhone maker is only “scratching the surface” of Chinese demand after sales in the region surged six-fold to $3.8 billion last quarter, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in July. Still, delays in store openings may give makers of smartphones and tablets equipped with Google Inc.’s Android software room to gain market share, said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group.”
“‘I don’t think anyone really expected them to come up with 25 stores in 24 months,’ said David Wolf, CEO of Wolf Group Asia, a Beijing-based marketing strategy consulting firm. ‘Apple set a very high bar for themselves in a market where the logistical challenges are profound,'” Bloomberg News reports. China’s Jiefang Daily, citing Johnson, reported this February that the company may delay the 25-store target to focus on ‘larger and better’ locations.”
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MacDailyNews Take: Brand is very important in China. Those with means aren’t as likely to settle for knockoff wares as others might elsewhere.