Apple Inc. is opening 25 more retail stores in the U.S. this week and will soon have more than 100 stores open worldwide.
Apple is taking a gradual process to reopening globally and now has a fifth of its retail outlets open worldwide. The iPhone maker had shut all of its stores outside of Greater China in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It started shutting its more than 50 Greater China stores in January and reopened them all by mid-March.
The Apple stores will still impose social-distancing rules on patrons, limit occupancy and some will offer only curbside or storefront service, the company said. Apple does not disclose its retail store revenue. Direct sales, including retail stores, web and corporate sales, accounted for 31% of the company’s $260 billion in revenue for 2019.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook declined last month to provide an outlook for the June quarter, citing business uncertainty created by the virus. First-quarter sales in China were $9.46 billion, about $1 billion less than for the same period a year earlier.
Last week, Apple reopened its first five stores in the United States, requiring customers and employees to undergo temperature checks and wear masks before entering. Apple has 510 stores worldwide and 271 in the United States. The company said it would also reopen 10 of its stores in Italy on Tuesday this week.
