Apple flexes its muscles in China with another megastore that was unveiled on Friday. Located in Beijing's upscale shopping district, Sanlitun, the store replaces and doubles more than the size of Apple's first store in China in one place, which immediately caused a sensation in 2008.
The iconic building has reopened under the heat of the U.S. review of the hardware giant's ties to China. In a speech on Thursday, Attorney General William Barr attacked a group of American tech companies, including Apple, for abiding by Chinese rules. He singled out Apple for "acquiescing to the Chinese Communists".
Apple has long relied on China not only for its manufacturing partners, but also to generate revenue from sales of the App Store (especially games) and the iPhone. However, local smartphone makers such as Huawei - which opened its largest store to date in June - have reduced Apple's Chinese market share in recent quarters, leaving the US giant in fifth place with around 10% of total shipments, according to Counterpoint Research.
Barr lambasted Apple for snatching apps on behalf of the Chinese government. The reasons for these bans can range from cutting politically sensitive services, such as a card used during protests in Hong Kong, to closing a regulatory loophole, which has resulted in the removal of thousands of unauthorized games in China.
The new premises include Apple's first integrated solar panel in a retail store in China, which allows it to supply energy to the store below like all Apple installations in the world operating exclusively on renewable energy. . The company says it supports enough clean energy in China to power more than 450,000 homes each year.
In the past 12 years, the Sanlitun store has grown from 52 employees to 185 and has attracted over 22 million visitors.
