Apple opened a full-service store in Beijing on Saturday -- its first in China. For years, Chinese consumers have had limited access to Apple's products, as the company has focused primarily on the
developed markets that make up the bulk of its business. Rivals such as Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard have grown quickly after investing in retail and marketing efforts.
Over the past two
years, more Apple resellers have begun popping up in China's sprawling computer malls. Today, Ping Guo -- Apple in Chinese -- is widely known among China's affluent, tech-savvy youth in top-tier
cities -- Apple's target niche in China. Many of China's existing Mac users pay premium prices to resellers for their computers, iPods and iPhones.
Although that target niche is a small
piece of the pie -- high-end computers make up just 1% to 2% of the overall market, according to Simon Ye, an analyst at Gartner -- analysts say the company is well positioned as a fashionable,
aspirational brand. And Apple's push is well timed, with household incomes in China increasing.
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