US smartphone giant Apple said on Friday it would open its first online store in Vietnam next week.
“We’re proud to be expanding in Vietnam,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail.
The move is part of the iPhone-maker’s drive to double down on emerging markets to boost growth amid slowing sales in China.
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The company did not say when it plans to open physical stores in Vietnam, which has a population of 100 million people. But online stores often precede the opening of retail stores.
The opening on May 18 comes just weeks after the Cupertino, California-based company opened its first Apple stores in India’s Mumbai and Delhi. It first launched an online store in India in 2020.
Apple already sells products in Vietnam via licensed vendors and has multiple suppliers that assemble its gadgets in the country for export.
CEO Tim Cook is betting that emerging markets will provide more opportunities for growth for Apple, with younger populations and relatively few iPhones.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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