Apple is aiming to extend its global network of retail stores to South Korea, reports The Wall Street Journal. Should Apple succeed in opening its first retail outlet in the country, it would be competing even more directly with Samsung in that company’s native market.
Citing “people familiar with the matter”, The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has made inquiries with a view to opening its first store in South Korea, having considered sites near Samsung’s headquarters and three-storey flagship store in Seoul. In recent months, Apple retail executives have visited the East Asian country to look at potential locations for the Apple outlet.
However, the sources have also cautioned that Apple’s plan awaits finalization and roughly a year could pass before that first store actually opens in South Korea. Apple is said to have scouted locations near Seoul’s busy Gangnam subway station and another site on the South Korean capital’s trendy Garosu-gil shopping street.
“We have made no announcements about a store there,” an Apple spokesman told WSJ, while a Samsung Electronics spokeswoman declined to comment when pressed by the news site.