Apple Is Finally Opening A Flagship Store In Taiwan

Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn is synonymous with the Apple as a primary assembler of their products. Which is why it’s somewhat surprising that the country doesn’t host a flagship Apple store – until now.

Apple’s Taiwanese job site posted a series of listings on Friday, including customer support, sales and leadership positions for an upcoming Apple store.

It follows the company’s listing of a 30-year bond on the Taipei Exchange last month, which raised $1.38 billion USD.

While Asia’s appetite for Apple products has given the company a major boost over the past five years, the region has hosted relatively few flagship stores.

Japan was the first country to open a series of stores, followed by China in 2008, the same year as the Beijing Olympics. Before Taiwan, the most recent territory to gain a store was Macau, where the first Apple store opened its doors on June 25th.

Apple saw their first ever decline in iPhone sales in Q2 2016, as they struggle to come to grips with an increasingly stagnant smartphone market.

The company faced a 26 percent decline in smartphone sales for Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong. Apple claims that the drop was largely attributable to poor sales in Hong Kong, where many Chinese mainlanders purchase their devices.