“In 2012 Apple opened 41 stores. The total is the second highest yearly opening rate since the stores first began operating,” Horace Dediu reports for Asymco. “The highest total was in 2008 when 47 stores opened.”
“Although it is a healthy total, the surprising story about retail is that stores are not being opened as quickly as Apple’s sales and reach are growing,” Dediu reports. “The store opening rate has been around 40/yr. during the last five years, up from 30/yr. during first seven but a 33% growth rate it’s still a frustratingly slow rate of growth.”
Dediu reports, “Consider that during 2007 when Apple opened 34 stores, Apple’s net sales were $28 billion and that in 2012 when it opened 41 stores sales were about $164 billion.”
Read more, and see the usual excellent graphs, in the full article here.