Apple to open eighth flagship store in Shanghai

Apple Inc will open a new flagship store named Apple Jing'an in central Shanghai on March 21, the US tech giant announced on Monday.

Located on West Nanjing Road in Jing'an district and facing the landmark Jing'an Temple, the new store covers a total of 3,835 square meters.

Attracting more than 83.4 million yuan ($11.6 million) of investment, Apple Jing'an is the company's second-largest flagship store after the Fifth Avenue location in New York City.

Apple Inc's CEO Tim Cook wrote on the Chinese social network application Weibo on Mar 8 that the company "can't wait" to open Apple Jing'an, adding that the store captures the "creative and pioneering spirit of Shanghai".

The upcoming store will mark the eighth Apple Store in Shanghai, with the already standing seven stores mostly located in core business areas such as the financial hub Lujiazui in East Shanghai's Pudong New Area and Huaihai Road in central Shanghai.

The total number of Apple Stores in the Chinese mainland will come to 57 upon the opening of Apple Jing'an.

But Apple has been facing stiff competition from local smartphone firms such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi in the Chinese market, analysts from market consultancy Counterpoint Research wrote in a report on March 5.

The sales of iPhone dropped 24 percent year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, while the best performer during the same period Huawei saw its smartphone unit shipment rise 64 percent, according to Counterpoint.