What may now be Asia's largest Apple Store opened its doors for business Saturday in Hangzhou, China.
Massive crowds reportedly gathered outside the West Lake Apple Store for the opening, and a handful of outlets report that it is Asia's biggest yet. Apple CEO Tim Cook — who doesn't use social media that often — tweeted about "Starting Something New" in China to recognize the store's unveiling.
Apple teased the opening of the store this week with a video showing artist Wang Dongling creating a mural for the unveiling of the Hangzhou store. The mural depicts a poem — titled "Praising West Lake in the Rain" — that blanketed the store as a promotional stunt.
Video: YouTube, Apple
The new stores are part of Tim Cook's push to expand Apple's presence in China, one of the largest markets for Apple products in the world. Cook said in 2014 that he wanted to open 25 Apple Stores in China over the next two years.
"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said
"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said, according to Reuters. "When I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history."
Still, it's not all good feelings between the Cupertino-based company and China. Despite Apple's push to expand its footprint in the Chinese market, the government has repeatedly expressed distrust for the company.
On Friday, reports circulated that Cook was conceding to the Chine government's demands to perform full security inspections of Apple products before they can be sold. (This remains unconfirmed.)
In 2014, a state-run Chinese television program accused Apple of tracking its citizens' locations through iPhones' "frequent locations" feature. Apple, of course, was quick to deny such claims.
Regardless, Apple isn't hiding that it's eager to win Chinese customers. Here's a look at the atmosphere surrounding the store during its opening on Saturday:
Source by Mashable
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