American smartphone and electronics giant Apple Inc. inaugurated its first retail store in Macau on Saturday, increasing its number of retail stores to 41 in the Greater China region. The store is located in one of the shopping malls in an upscale Galaxy Macau resort.

Hundreds of diehard Apple fans queued for hours outside the store before its scheduled opening at 10 A.M. The outlet has two floors, including a dedicated sales space where 150 of the latest Apple products have been displayed.    

Like Us on Facebook

According to local reports, the store has hired 149 employees who are well versed in speaking nine local languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, English, and Portuguese.

Talking about Apple's decision to come to Macau, Denny Tuza, Senior Director for Apple Retail Asia Pacific told Chinese state media, "Macao is a rich commercial and industrialized city with 600,000 residents and 32 million tourists annually. The city has a unique hybrid urban culture, representing a peculiar blend of Oriental and Western influences."            

Overall, China is a critical market for Apple, with the company depending on burgeoning Chinese consumers to drive up its annual sales and profit. However, the American smartphone giant faces stiff competition from a barrage of home-grown competitors like Oppo, Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE. Industry experts say that tough competition has kept Apple on its toes and has made Apple work hard to gain a foothold in the lucrative Chinese market.          

Last week, Apple faced its latest setback in China, as it lost a patent trademark case against a local Chinese smartphone company. As per the ruling, Apple is barred from selling Iphone 6 in the capital city of Beijing. However, Apple said in its official statement that all its model are available for sale across China.

Tagsapple, Macau, china, Apple Stores In China