Tech giant Apple (AAPL 3.40%) turned the retail industry on its head when it opened the first of its impressively successful retails stores in 2001.
Source: Apple
Apple has since grown its retail presence to encompass a global network of stores numbering well above 400 today. These outposts not only serve as key sales drivers for Apple, but also as showrooms for the Apple brand as a whole. Apple generated roughly 30%3 of its overall sales last year from direct distribution channels.
Reviving retail
Despite all superlatives surrounding Apple's retail prowess, its sales from this key segment have in some ways stagnated over the last several years. In its recently concluded fiscal year, Apple retails sales only grew 7%, trailing the 9% increase in Apple's overall sales.
Part of this is to be expected. For starters, finding new third-party distribution partners typically proves simpler than finding and developing the marquee locations Apple so prizes for its retail stores.
Either way, Apple management has recently initiated a series of both small and large moves aimed at reinvigorating its retail momentum. In this video, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner discusses some of Apple's recent moves and how they fit within this broader storyline for Apple.
