Apple Store Expansion in China Said to Have Slowed Due to Red Tape, Fraud, and Other Factors

In 2015 and 2016, Apple aggressively expanded its retail presence in China with 30 new stores, according to the Apple Storefronts tracker. Since the start of 2017, however, Apple has opened just five new locations in the country.

apple suzhou

Apple's newest store in China in Suzhou

The Information's Wayne Ma has shared a report today that offers explanations for the slowdown, including China's bureaucratic government, scalpers, previously-reported fraud, and increasing competition from Chinese smartphone makers. The report is based on interviews with 17 former Apple employees.

On government bureaucracy:

Apple had to navigate a maze of government bureaucracy to obtain everything from business and tax licenses to construction, fire and customs permits for imported building materials, former employees say. The regulatory framework in China is far more complicated than in the U.S., with many more layers of government, these former employee say, and it’s far more opaque. Employees frequently scrambled to chase down permits and local approvals to keep store openings on track, they said.

On scalpers:

Apple, too, had to contend with scalpers, known as "yellow cows" in colloquial Chinese. These scalpers swarmed its stores and elbowed out other customers during product launches and in-store promotions. …

Apple executives worried they were losing control of the customer experience in their stores, and along with it opportunities to interact with real consumers. The scalpers showed little interest in the accessories and add-on services Apple likes to offer customers.

Other factors, according to those interviewed, included low-level government officials asking for free iPhones and other products as a form of bribery, a tug-of-war between the Beijing and Shanghai local governments over taxes, and a vibrant gray market for iPhones smuggled from Hong Kong.

As a result of these difficulties, Apple is said to have "abruptly changed" its retail expansion plans in mainland China in 2017, resulting in the dramatic slowdown in grand openings. Apple's latest store in China opened in the city of Suzhou on September 21, coinciding with iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max launch day.

Last quarter, Apple brought in revenue of $9.5 billion from the Greater China region, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Greater China accounted for 17.9 percent of Apple's revenue in the quarter, making it the company's third largest market, behind the United States and Europe.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
90 months ago
Apple, too, had to contend with scalpers, known as "yellow cows" in colloquial Chinese. These scalpers swarmed its stores and elbowed out other customers during product launches and in-store promotions. ...
This is the most exciting Apple-related thing that has ever happened.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PG(Austin) Avatar
90 months ago
WHAT!!?? Fraud!!?? In CHINA!!?? I just can't believe that!

But it doesn't matter...soon there will be an Aple Store right next door, backed by the Chinese Government.





Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJohnnyN Avatar
90 months ago
Trying to decide how offended I should be.
Why, are you yellow, or a cow?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJohnnyN Avatar
90 months ago
China is all over the MacRumors site today.

Why are scalpers known as Yellow Cows?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ilikewhey Avatar
90 months ago
don't blame them, this article brought up so much memory when i was in china couple years back and i had to fight bunch of ppl who were cutting in lines to get a taxi,

alot of these low-level gov't officials grew up with the peasant revolution and therefore don't have an education, its really a dog eat dog world over there often times.

when they see apple trying to open up a store on their turf they want to exploit them for $$$ as much as possible. hence the red tape nightmare
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike MA Avatar
90 months ago
Yet, Apple is still trying to strengten human rights and data privacy - so expect further bureaucratic hurdles to come...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)