10 Apple stores to open in China

The leaf on the Apple symbol is tinted green at the Apple flagship store on 5th Ave in New York April 22, 2014. Employees and signage have been themed green to mark Earth Day. [Photo/Agencies]

US computer and electronics giant Apple is planning to open 10 more brick-and-mortar retail stores in China, the company's online recruitment bulletin revealed Tuesday amid fiery-hot speculations surrounding their iPhone 6 release date.

The Cupertino, California-based company has already starting hiring employees for its new Apple store locations in six second-tier cities including Shenyang in northeast China, Chongqing in the southwest and Zhengzhou in the central part of the country, according to a hiring advertisement posted on the company's website.

Apple is preparing three stores for Chongqing, a metropolis with more than 30 million residents, the advertisement also read.

The company has opened 10 stores on the Chinese mainland since 2008. Most of the outlets are in top-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Apple did not reply to emails sent by China Daily seeking comment.

Global smartphone manufacturers are looking at China, the world's number one smartphone market by shipment, for high-end device sales.

Samsung Electronics and Apple are betting on the nation's second-tier cities, with strong purchasing power and lower high-end device adoption rates compared to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, for future phone sales.

New stores are set to help Apple sell next-generation iPhone gadgets, which will likely be named iPhone 6. Suppliers in China will begin mass production of the new mobile phone starting this month, according to an earlier Bloomberg News report.

The Chinese mainland was among the first markets to sell iPhone 5S/C devices in mid 2013.

Apple only took 6.6 percent of the shares in the Chinese smartphone market in the first quarter, well behind Samsung and Lenovo Group who enjoys a double-digit market share, said local research company Analysys International.

It estimated the nation's sizzling 4G drive will also boost smartphone sales in the coming years.