Apple opens biggest Asian store in Beijing
Agence France-Presse
AP filephoto
BEIJING—Apple on Saturday opened its biggest Asian store yet in Beijing, with hordes of shoppers descending on the three-floor complex that highlights the growing importance of China to the US tech giant.
The shop, on the major shopping street of Wangfujing in the heart of the capital, covers an area of 2,300 square meters (24,750 square feet), according to Chinese media reports.
China is now the second-biggest market for Apple after the United States but the company has also faced frequent criticism for the conditions in which its products are produced in China.
The enthusiasm for the company’s gadgets among the country’s fast-growing consumer class was clear Saturday as shoppers quickly packed out the new shop shortly after it opened at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT).
Around 100 people also waited outside to enter the store, Apple’s sixth official outlet in mainland China, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist at the scene. Many other shops in China are also licensed to sell Apple products.
The popularity of Apple in China is such that the launch of new iPhone models has in recent years led to huge crowds jostling to get their hands on the smartphones and spawned a black market in the gadgets.
The latest criticism to hit a company linked to Apple came earlier this week when Taiwan’s Foxconn, which makes products for the US tech giant, admitted employing children as young as 14 on assembly lines at a plant in China.
It was the latest in a string of problems to beset Foxconn, which has frequently been targeted for its labour practices following a spate of suicides in 2010 that activists blamed on tough working conditions.
Apple has seen its sales soar in China.
The company took in $12.4 billion in China in the first half of the current fiscal year to March, putting the company easily on course to eclipse the $13.3 billion in Chinese sales in the prior 12-month period.
Other Stories:
Recent Stories:
Woods: Garcia comment hurtful, time to move on 1 min elapsed
Bank manager hurt in shooting in Manila 12 mins elapsed
Australian fined for conduct breach over Twitter rant against journalists 2 hours elapsed
AirAsia net profit falls nearly 40% in 1st quarter 3 hours elapsed
Asian expat workers end rare UAE strike—company 4 hours elapsed
Ex-Dapitan mayor gets 6-year imprisonment for pocketing intelligence funds 4 hours elapsed
Aquino appoints Malolos judge Ringpis-Liban as associate justice of tax court 4 hours elapsed
Cayetano ready to accept backing of peers for Senate president 4 hours elapsed
Tags: Apple , Asia , China , Smartphone , technology
