Apple has just announced that it will open its 31st store in China in Qingdao, a port city that lies next to the East China Sea. The chosen date will be Saturday, January 30 at 10:00 local time. The store will open in the new MixC luxury shopping mall, China's largest, at 6 Shandong Road just off the coast of Shinan district, a neighborhood within the city.
This MixC mall in Qingdao has a wide plaza, with more than 400 stores of the firms most popular both globally and in China, restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues, including an indoor theme park with a roller coaster. The mall also includes an Olympic-size ice skating rink and one of the most equipped cinemas in China with IMAX and 4D.
The new store will have a schedule of 10 am-10: 00 pm local time Monday through Friday, and 10 am-10:30pm on weekends.
Apple has been aggressively expanding in China under the tutelage of the now famous Angela Ahrendts, head of Apple's retail division of stores, with some very important openings such as those of January 14 in Xiamen, January 9 in Shenyang, December 12 in Nanning, November 28 in Beijing and November 21 in Chengdu. It has also opened stores in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Nanjing, and Tianjin in 2015.
China is Apple's second largest market by total revenue after America. The company experienced 99% revenue growth from the Chinese market, also including Taiwan and Hong Kong throughout the fourth fiscal quarter of 2015. If this continues, it is possible that 2017 will end by grow more than the US market and stay above this becoming the most important market for Apple by revenue.