Apple to open Malaysia store on Jun 22 in South-east Asia push

APPLE will open its first retail location in Malaysia next month as it expands its presence in South-east Asia to augment both sales and operations outside of China.

The company’s first store in the country is at The Exchange TRX mall in Kuala Lumpur. The company announced the opening on its website on Wednesday (May 29), saying the location will open on Jun 22 at 10 am local time. Apple already has some stores in the wider region, including in India, Thailand and Singapore.

Malaysia is becoming an increasingly key country for Apple on both production and sales fronts. The US company started production of some Macs in Malaysia a couple of years ago, while it is also producing some iPhones in India and AirPods in Vietnam.

The new store location has been in development for several years, with hiring for the store beginning early last year. Bloomberg News reported on the location last year. It was originally scheduled to open in February but encountered delays. In April, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook toured South-east Asia, visiting Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam to drive growth in the region. BLOOMBERG