Apple has had nearly 1,000 employees working in its Singapore contact center for quite some time.
Now, the tech company will staff an entire retail store there, too. Apple confirmed with TechCrunch on Sunday that it will indeed open a retail store in Singapore, the company's first in Southeast Asia. This comes after the same website reported last week that Apple was quietly hiring staff for its upcoming Singapore location. Although Apple confirmed the store, it hasn't announced a projected opening date just yet.
"We have more than 900 incredible employees working in our Singapore contact center and are thrilled to begin hiring the team that will open our first Apple Store in Singapore — an incredible international city and shopping destination," Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president for retail and online stores, said in a statement sent to TechCrunch. "We can't wait to deliver the service, education and entertainment that is loved by Apple customers around the world."
Like the company's retail stores in the United States, Europe and China, the entire Singapore operation will work with renewable energy, as part of the company's green initiative. The Apple store will reportedly be located in the Knightsbridge section of Singapore — a shopping hotspot. It isn't clear as of yet whether Apple plans to use this store as a springboard for others to come in Southeast Asia.
However, the IDC analyst firm reported this past summer that smartphone sales across Southeast Asia has grown by 66 percent, spelling a reachable audience for Apple and other tech companies to sell to.
