File photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

Apple will close a store in northeastern China in August, the first time it has shuttered one of its retail locations in the country.

The company said on Monday that it would close its store in Dalian City's Parkland Mall on Aug. 9. 

When contacted by National Business Daily (NBD) on the afternoon of July 29 regarding the reason for the Dalian City store's closure, Apple stated in a declaration: "Due to the departure of several retailers from Parkland Mall in Dalian, we have decided to close our retail store there on August 9."

This statement suggests Apple's decision is primarily influenced by changes in the external commercial environment.

According to an insider, "Parkland Mall has been embroiled in lawsuits since 2022, and by February of this year, the major shareholder had taken full control of leasing and operations. Several well-known retailers within the mall, including Coach, Kenzo, MCM, and UGG, have closed their stores as their leases expired."

Despite the closure in Dalian, Apple's overall expansion pace in China remains unchanged. Last week, Apple announced the opening of the Apple MixC Qianhai retail store in Shenzhen on August 16, which will be Shenzhen's third Apple retail store. In January, Apple also opened its first retail store in Anhui Province, the MixC Hefei retail store. According to its official website, Apple currently operates over 50 Apple Store retail stores in China.

However, despite the increasing number of stores, market data indicates a decline in Apple's sales and market share in China recently.

According to IDC data released recently, China's smartphone market shipments in the second quarter of this year totaled 68.96 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 4.0%. In terms of vendor rankings, Huawei reclaimed the top spot in the domestic smartphone market with 12.5 million units shipped. vivo, OPPO, and Xiaomi ranked second to fourth, with market shares of 17.3%, 15.5%, and 15.1% respectively. Apple ranked fifth with a 13.9% market share.