Apple Inc. last weekend opened its 361st Apple Store -- a 23,030 square feet, 315-employee retail store in Grand Central Terminal, one of New York's busiest transportation hubs. An enormous crowd of commuters and tourists graced the opening.

The Cupertino, California-based company now has five stores in Manhattan. Around the world, there are Apple stores are located in eleven countries, namely the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, China, Australia and Canada.

Nearly 300 million people have visited Apple retail stores in the past 12 months, according to Apple.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at the Let's Talk iPhone event in October that "MANY more [Apple Stores] are coming to 'raise the bar at retail.'"

Apple designs and sells the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of apps, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company also sells and delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store.

China

Recent Apple retail store openings have been a success. Cook said at the iPhone 4S launching in October that the new Shanghai store opened with 100,000 visitors. The new Hong Kong store sold record amount of Macs on opening, Cook said. Apple's retail store list, indicates that Apple already has 5 stores in mainland China and one in Hong Kong.

The Apple Store in Hong Kong opened September and averages 200,000 visitors a day. The store, located at the IFC Mall in the city's Central district, spans 16,000 square feet and has a staff of 300.

Apple is expected to open more stores in China, which has 1 billion mobile phone users. In contrast to China's six stores, Australia, which has 21 million mobile phone users, already has 13 Apple Stores.

Expanding in China appears to be Apple's top priority. Apple's Chinese outlets are already among the most heavily trafficked Apple stores in the world, generating record sales and profits.

For the first three quarters of fiscal 2011, Apple's revenue in greater China topped out at $8.8 billion, a 600% increase over a year earlier.

Despite its record growth in China, Apple just has 13% of the smartphone market and a measly 2% of the overall mobile phone market, trailing Nokia Oyj and Samsung Electronics, according to market researcher Gartner.

$14.2 billion in sales

According to Apple's latest annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple Stores generated $14.12 billion in net sales during the fiscal year ended Sept. 24, 2011, an increase of $4.3 billion or 44% from fiscal 2010. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by strong demand for iPad, higher sales of Macs, and an increase in iPhone revenue. The Company opened 40 new retail stores during fiscal 2011, 28 of which were outside the U.S., ending the year with 357 stores open compared to 317 stores at the end of 2010. As of Sept. 24, 2011, the Company had a total of 245 U.S. retail stores and 112 international retail stores.

The average revenue per store increased 27% to $43.3 million in 2011 compared to $34.1 million in 2010. Apple's retail stores represented 13% and 15% of total net sales in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Flagship stores are available in Palo Alto, Boston, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, Osaka, London, Sydney, Perth, Montreal, Munich, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris, Beijing, Glasgow, Honolulu, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Apple stores have been profitable -- no Apple store has ever had to close.

Aside from the Apple Store, Apple devices are available at the Apple Online Store, carriers and networks and authorized resellers.

Future stores

Apple doesn't confirm the location of future stores at all until about a week before the grand opening. Apple's job openings Web page do indicate location of future stores (by cities) and site inspections, and business applications by Apple for new retail sites do end up in news articles.

Apple is expected to increase its retail stores count in order to enter currently underserved and untapped markets and serve areas where supply couldn't keep up with demand.

Apple's latest offering, the iPhone 4S, is already available in 29 countries around the world and will be available in 70 countries by the end of the calendar year. But these devices are mostly available via resellers or mobile operators as Apple cube stores featuring the glass staircases and the Genius Bar for technical support are only available in 11 countries.

Apple, the world's most popular tech company, is in the midst of an aggressive expansion in China. In June it disclosed plans to open 25 stores in the country in the next two years. Apple plans to open two more stores in Hong Kong in fiscal 2012.

Aside from China, Apple has already conveyed plans to open 20 additional stores, although most of the stores would be opened in countries where Apple Stores are already put up (2 more stores in Australia). Only the Netherlands and Sweden are so far scheduled to join the elite group.

Apple has already registered a new business by the name of "Apple Retail Sweden AB" to oversee the operation. In the Netherlands, Apple has already started soliciting applications for staffing for an Apple Store.

Smartphone sales are big in Indonesia (RIM's BlackBerry one of the most popular), the Philippines, Malaysia and Korea (where Samsung is king), but Apple doesn't have an official presence in these countries. Apple could open an Apple Store in India, where distributors are commanding high retail prices and vendors Nokia, Samsung and Research In Motion are leading the market. Brazil, which has 232 million wireless subscribers, doesn't have an Apple retail store -- Apple devices are only available online (accessible only by users with international credit cards) and through network operators. There were reports early this year that Apple execs have visited Russia, which has 220 million mobile phones in use. Apple execs were said to have inspected the newly renovated Hotel Moskva in downtown Moscow to finalize plans for an Apple retail space.

Where should Apple open its next Apple Stores? Tell us what you think.