Apple Inc, which just became China’s number one smartphone vendor, expects to open stores in another five cities based on advertisements that it placed for retail staff.
It is hiring staff for its stores in Guangzhou, Shenyang, Tianjin, Nanjing and Dalian, where they currently don’t have outlets, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing advertisements posted on Apple’s website.
Apple has 15 stores in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong by 2014, and the firm plans to lift that to 25 soon.
Apple Inc has taken the number one luxury gifting spot in China from designer goods maker Hermes International SCA, according to a Hurun luxury report on Thursday, reflecting the iPhone maker’s recent hot streak in the country.
The US tech firm’s focus on glitzy stores and high prices helped it post a 70 percent rise in sales in China in the last three months of 2014 and powered the company to the largest profit in corporate history.
Spending on gift giving overall fell 5 percent in 2014, after a 25 percent drop the year before, according to the Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey. Beijing has been cracking down on corruption and luxury spending among public officials, weighing down sales of premium liquor to handbags.
Apple is continuing its aggressive retail expansion into the Middle Kingdom, with plans to open 5 new Apple stores in China in the early days of 2015. Prior to Spring Festival, the company has reportedly said it will open 5 new retail shops, including the new store in Zhengzhou that opened earlier this month. The next one on the list will be in Hangzhou, where doors will open at Apple’s new West Lake store on 24 January.