Report after report shows us that China is on fire. While most people know that China makes a lot of the gadgets that the rest of the world uses, many don’t know that China is on track to be a major player in terms or actually purchasing goods as well. The estimates have China, as an example, accounting for as much as 25% of the world’s luxury purchasing in the upcoming years. This is not insignificant.
Apple is clearly someone who gets this as well. They are planning a major store opening in Shanghai which is going to be tremendous; the store that is. It will be the biggest in China. It has to be. Reports say that as many as 40,000 folks walk themselves into Apple stores in China each day. By contrast, USA does about 10,000 per day.
China has an almost insatiable appetite for Apple’s products so it is nice to see the message has been sent and Apple is responding in kind. Original estimates had Apple opening 25 new stores in China. That number is said to be under reassessment based on the sheer size of Shanghai but with the iPad 2 coming out soon there, followed by the iPhone 5 at some point this year, those estimates could re-up in short order.
