科技英语新闻:Apple plans 5th store in booming China market

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Apple is planning a third, even larger Shanghai store, as well as dozens of other stores throughout China, to cope with huge crowds at its flagship store and a branch, according to media reports Monday.

Apple says its Chinese outlets -- two in Beijing and two in Shanghai -- are the four most heavily trafficked Apple stores in the world. They also generate the most revenue.

Apple’s push into China shows the depth of the country’s fast-growing economy, and shows that with products not so easy to counterfeit, Chinese consumers are willing to pay a premium.

For the first three quarters of Apple’s fiscal year, revenue in China and its Taiwan, Hong Kong was 8.8 billion dollars -- six times that of a year earlier.

China has become the second-largest market, after the United States, for apps that run on the smartphone and tablet, according to Distimo, a Dutch company that tracks the popularity of apps.

In addition, Apple has been eager to team up with state-run telecom companies, which looks after mobile phone subscriptions.