<div><div style="float:right;margin-bottom:10px;"><a  href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?text=sdasdasd&url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/apple-store-hong-kong/"><img style="border:none;margin-right:5px;" src="http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/themes/v7/img/share-buttons/stumbleupon.png" align="right" /></a>
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<a  href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/apple-store-hong-kong/&service=bit.ly&source=mashable"><img style="border:none;margin-right:5px;" width="51" height="61" src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/apple-store-hong-kong/" align="right"/></a></div><div style="float:left;margin-bottom:10px;"><img alt="" src="http://8.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Chinese-internet-shutdown.jpg" title="China Computer Sales" class="alignright" height="" width="275"></div><div style="clear:both;"></div></div><br/><a href="http://mashable.com/follow/topics/apple/">Apple</a> is opening its first official store in Hong Kong this month, <em>Bloomberg</em> reports. The store will be in the International Finance Center Mall. Apple has said the store will open sometime this quarter; local news outlet <em>Ming Pao Daily</em> says more specifically that the 20,000-square-foot store will open on Sept. 24. 

The shop will only be Apple's fifth store in China. Out of the current <a href="https://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/" >four stores</a>, two are in Beijing and two are in Shanghai. According to <em><a href="http://www.mingpao.com/" >Ming Pao</a></em>, which doesn't cite any sources, Apple plans to open two more stores in Hong Kong in the future. 

Apple has been rapidly expanding in China, although it was initially slow to move into the enormous Chinese market. It wasn't until <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/10/27/apple-china-online-store/">October 2010</a> that Apple opened its online store to Chinese customers. Lately, however, Apple's push into Asia has paid off with dividends. In the second quarter of 2011, Apple's sales in greater China (which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan) <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/08/18/apple-lenovo-china/">passed</a> those of Lenovo for the first time.

In China, however, Apple has a lot of intellectual property headaches. Recently, Chinese authorities closed several <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/07/25/fake-apple-shops-china-closed/">fake Apple stores</a> in the city of Kunming after a <a href="http://birdabroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/are-you-listening-steve-jobs/" >blog post</a> exposed their existence to the media. 

<em>Image courtesy of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.istockphoto.com/mashableoffer.php">iStockphoto</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=2314488">Bo1982</a></em>

[via <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-06/apple-to-open-first-hong-kong-store-as-china-demand-surges.html" ><em>Bloomberg</em></a>]<p style="margin-top:10px;"><i>For more <a href="http://mashable.com/business/">Business &amp; Marketing</a> coverage:</i><ul style="margin-top:0;" class="xoxo"><li><a href="http://twitter.com/mashbusiness"  rel="nofollow">Follow Mashable Business &amp; Marketing on Twitter</a></li><li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/mashable.business"  rel="nofollow">Become a Fan on Facebook</a></li><li><a href="http://feeds.mashable.com/mashable/business"  rel="nofollow">Subscribe to the Business &amp; Marketing channel</a></li><li>Download our free apps for <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/08/02/mashable-android-app/" rel="nofollow">Android</a>, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mashable-for-mac/id412390413?mt=12" rel="nofollow">Mac</a>, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mashable/id356202138?mt=8"  rel="nofollow">iPhone</a> and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mashable-for-ipad/id370097986?mt=8"  rel="nofollow">iPad</a></li></ul></p><div class="feedflare">
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