Apple Inc. Expands Latin America Presence, Opens First Mexico Retail Store

Apple on Saturday opened its first retail store in Mexico. The launch in Mexico City comes just two years after the iPhone maker launched its first Latin American store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This is only the third Apple outlet in Latin America. Two retail stores are currently operational in Brazil, the second in Sao Paulo.

"Mexico City is one of the world’s top cultural and economic cities and we could not be more excited to bring the very best of Apple to our customers there,” Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and online stores, said in a statement. “Mexico's artistic and entrepreneurial spirit makes it a natural fit for Apple."

Apple CEO Tim Cook also celebrated the opening of the retail store, and thanked the people of Mexico in a tweet Saturday.

"Mexico City's 20 million residents have bought from many Apple partners and directly from Apple online since 2007, and Saturday marks the first time they'll be able to experience all the best of Apple, all in one place," the company said in the statement.

Including the Mexico City store, Apple now has over 480 retail stores across 19 countries. According to unnamed sources cited by AppleInsider, the company's brick-and-mortar retail expansion in Latin America is, to a certain extent, being fueled by the need to drive revenue hurt by its lackluster performance in China.

In the latest quarter, Apple's revenue from Greater China — Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China — dropped 33 percent year-on-year, even as iPhone sales stagnated in the U.S.

The company is also planning to expand its presence in Latin America to Peru, Chile and Argentina, AppleInsider reported. However, it is not yet clear if and when retail stores would be opened in these countries.