Apple opens biggest store yet, in Covent Garden

At 10am tomorrow, Apple will open its 300th store – and also its largest yet – in London’s Covent Garden.

The store consists of four floors, with a courtyard and eight-bay arcade, and the first 4000 customers who enter the store will get a free limited edition t-shirt.

Apple has promised that this new store will stock more iPhones than any other shop in the world, and the store will provide workshops and presentations, staffed by over 300 people.

It will also include a ‘set-up room’, so customers can begin to use their purchases as soon as they’ve bought them, or transfer their content and settings from their old devices onto their newly purchased ones.

The staff at Covent Garden will be using iPod touches to scan purchases, instead of a till. Additionally, chip and pin machines will be available at every table.

Apple hasn’t mentioned whether the white version of the iPhone will be available. This version is expected to be released later on in the year with an improved antenna due to complaints that the phones lose their signal if held in a particular way.

This opening is particularly relevant after a recent survey from iSuppli Corp. reports that Google’s Android is expected to overtake Apple’s iOS in 2012. Android will be used in 75 million smart phones by 2012, up from 5 million in 2009, whereas iOS usage will reach 62 million in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009.

Google’s Android phones have been gaining on Apple steadily, and currently account for 27% of the market. Before the launch of the iPhone 4, Apple had a 23% share, according to a survey from Nielsen.

Apple’s first retail outlet opened 10 years ago in Virginia, and there are now 300 worldwide. London’s largest Apple store before this opening was  Regent Street, which has the highest sales density of any retailer in London, according to Verdict, with an average £2000 spend per square foot. It has takings of nearly £60 million a year.

Apple recently announced their highest ever quarterly results, for the three months to 26 June. Net quarterly profit was $3.25 billion from $1.83 billion – up 78% year-on-year.

The Apple Store in Covent Garden is at 1, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8HA.