AppleInsider Staff
It was discovered on Monday that Apple will be opening the doors to its third brick-and-mortar retail outlet in Beijing, China on Oct. 20, possibly just ahead of official iPhone 5 sales in the country.
Apple announced through its Chinese website that the newest Beijing Apple Store will be the company's largest retail outlet in Asia, and will be located within the historic Wangfujing Street mall.
As noted by MIC Gadget, Apple's new Asian flagship outlet will sit between the country's first Apple Store in Sanlitun and the Xidan Joy City location near Tiananmen Square, which are about three and a half miles apart. Expected to be positioned on the corner of a large department store, the Wangfujing Apple Store will boast the typical all-glass facade and could take up four stories of retail space.
According to Apple's dedicated Wangfujing webpage, in-store classes are scheduled to begin on Oct. 21, the day after opening. While there is no mention of an iPhone 5 event, the iPhone 4S introductory session already has a waiting list, but as of this writing, reservations remain for iPad, iPod and iTunes, App Store and Mac activities.
Construction of Apple's Wangfujing location. | Source: MIC Gadget
The publication speculates that the store's grand opening could coincide with the Chinese launch of Apple's iPhone 5, however the company has yet officially announce a release date for the world's largest wireless market.
Apple's sixth-generation handset supports a slew of 4G LTE bandwidths and is being sold in three different variants to accomodate the various networks maintained by partner carriers. In China, China Telecom and China Unicom both have standing deals with Apple which are expected to contribute greatly to the Cupertino company's bottom line, but rumors abound as to whether China Mobile, the world's largest wireless provider, will be offering the handset at launch.
Apple's Wangfujing store will likely help ease the crush of traffic associated with a major product launch like the new iPhone 5, however it remains to be seen if the huge location will be enough to sate the usually rowdy masses.
When the iPhone 4S launched last year, crowds became unruly as supply dwindled, forcing Apple to postpone the device's launch, while the iPhone 4 release caused a scuffle in which a store window was broken.
In Hong Kong, "iPhone 5 fever" has kept stock in short supply, possibly heralding a massive demand from consumers in mainland China.
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
Sponsored Content
Wesley Hilliard
Amber Neely
5 Comments
anyone who has ever been to Beijing's Wangfujing know the sheer number of visitors passing by that particular landmark building... talk about location and astronomical rent. but the number of Chinese visitors hanging out at Apple stores have dropped substantially this past year... the change is quite noticeable... many trendy teens and young adults already carry iPhones, or similar smartphones... plus, the largest state-owned carriers in the country, China Mobile and China Unicom (perhaps even China Telecom) will be offering the latest subsidized iPhones with their voice/data packages... their service branches are omnipresent throughout China... many have even imitated the famous Apple store demo tables and interior layout... corporation and government enterprises go hand in had over here. not to say the iPhone5/iPad mini won't break sales records in China, they definitely will... but the bulk will come from said carriers... onlookers will be purchasing or upgrading their Apple products there in lieu of Xinya stores.
I happen to be here in China right now on vacation. About a week ago I saw a China Mobile sign entirely in Chinese of course but the word iPhone5 was there in big letters. Not sure what it meant of course, but eventually apple will sign up with them, maybe now is the time?
I am in Beijing right now too on a 5 week business trip. Guess ill have something exciting to see while here on the apple front. Being an architect, I always enjoy seeing how Apple's chief architects respond to different locations around the globe. On the iPad mini rumor...I think the iPad mini will be huge here, however a little late to the game. Taking the subway every day to work, I notice a lot of people with 7" and 5" tablets. iPhones are huge here, but most that are early adopters have people in the USA buy them and bring back. Also many go to Hong Kong to get them, since they deput there earlier, but supplies are usually very limited. Interesting they choose Wangfujing for the location. sanlitun is quite a bit further away from there than Xidan. Xidan and Wangfujing are literally 3 stops apart by subway. Getting to Sanlitun from there is much longer and way more crowded.
Wow Third Apple Store opens in Beijing to long lines