Apple To Open New Shanghai Store

Apple Inc. is preparing to open a new store in Jingan, Shanghai later this month, at a time when the tech major is facing a slowing down of iPhone sales in one of its mainstream markets in China.

As per a notice on its website, Apple Jingan will be opened on March 21 as the eighth store in Shanghai. Apple already has 46 locations across China, with Shanghai having the highest number of Apple stores in the country.

Bloomberg reported earlier that the company plans dozens of new, relocated or refreshed stores over the next few years.

In its latest first quarter, the company recorded weak sales in Greater China of $20.82 billion, compared to last year’s 23.91 billion, even as the company generated improved results in all other regions.

During the first-quarter earnings call, Apple CFO Luca Maestri quoted a survey from Kantar that iPhones were four out of the top six models in urban China.

Meanwhile, research firm Counterpoint in early March reportedly said that Apple’s iPhone sales in China in the first six weeks of 2024 fell by 24 percent compared to a year earlier.

China’s overall smartphone unit sales declined 7 percent year over year. The slowdown in iPhone sales reflects fierce competition in China from local smartphone makers. During the same period, China’s Huawei recorded a sales jump of 64 percent in the country.