It's been a decade since Apple opened its first retail location in Tyson's Corner, Va., and since then it has expanded its retail fleet to 324 stores in 11 countries. Apple now has brick-and-mortar locations open on four continents, but believe it or not, there are corners of the earth that haven't been touched by Apple Stores (for an look at some of the coolest Apple stores on the planet, check out the six Apple Stores to see before you die). So where will we see the iconic glass-fronted, Mac logo-stamped doors open next?
Only Apple knows for sure, but the obvious strategy is that Apple will continue to push into China, where its stores have performed extremely well. When Apple reported first-quarter earnings last month, it said quarterly revenue from China quadrupled, skyrocketing to $2.6 billion, which comprises 10 percent of Apple's total revenue. In China, demand for Apple products has grown massively since the first store opened in Beijing in the summer of 2008. Apple has four locations in China: two in Beijing and two in Shanghai. Apple Stores in the country are some of the busiest in the world, seeing on average both the most foot traffic and the most revenue out of any other Apple Stores. The stores see about 40,000 customers every day, which is about four times the average daily traffic of stateside stores.
Accordingly, there is buzz that Apple will open another store in Hong Kong. Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has a store planned in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, the world's third-most expensive shopping strip behind Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and Paris' Champs-Elysees. Apple's Beijing-based spokesperson Carolyn Wu confirmed to Bloomberg that the company will open a store in Hong Kong in 2011, but she wouldn't divulge the location.
Earlier this year, there was also chatter that Apple would open a third Shanghai location, on the city's Nanjing Road.
Apple's China push is no secret. Last year, the company's senior vice president of retail announced plans to open 25 stores in the country. However, more recently, it has been said that Apple has scaled those plans back in favor of opening fewer, but larger stores.
Apple could be preparing to open its first location in Russia, which would be Apple's easternmost European location, both the first in a former communist state and the first in a former Soviet republic. Currently, Berlin is the furthest east Apple has set up shop in Europe.
Apple also lacks a presence in Central and South America, Africa, and the Middle East. There has been talkthat Apple had its eye on Brazil for a new store, but last year CEO Steve Jobs allegedly told Brazilian officialsthat the country's high import tariffs would keep that from happening.
Apple garners $9.9 million from each Apple Store every year, on average, and Apple will only continue to open new shops. While future locations have not been confirmed, Apple says it will open 40 stores by the end of September, 30 of which are planned for outside of the U.S.
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