cook2210e.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook recently announced that the company is planning to add 40 more stores in Greater China within the next two years. Greater China includes Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Currently, Apple has 15 retail stores and earns about 14 percent or $5.8 billion of their total revenue from the Chinese market, said Bloomberg.
Luca Maestri, chief financial officer, said that the demand for Apple's products including iPhones has "been really off the charts."
The first Apple outlet was opened in 2008 at Sanlitun district in Beijing. Other stores that followed were located in Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuxi, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Cook visited the country and toured at Foxconn Technology Co's iPhone factory in Zhengzhou. According to him, the company is seeing a lot of opportunities in China and would want to expand.
"We're investing like crazy in the market, when I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history," Cook said.
During his visit, Cook also met with China's Vice Premier Ma Kai to exchange ideas on the protection of users' information and strengthening cooperation in communication.
Cook is scheduled to attend a meeting today at Beijing Tsinghua University. He is a member of the School of Economics and Management's advisory council. Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg and other international business leaders will also attend the event.
Apple is closely cooperating with Chinese business companies, including Baidu Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, regarding expansion in the Chinese market. A meeting with Alibaba chairman Jack Ma is also on Cook's schedule before departing.
