Apple to open first Hong Kong store this quarter

People walk inside an Apple retail store in Shanghai August 25, 2011.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Tuesday it will open its first Hong Kong retail store this quarter and is targeting another Shanghai store opening by the end of the year.

Apple, which has four stores on mainland China, will open its Hong Kong store in the International Finance Center this quarter, said Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman.

Wu also said Apple will open another Shanghai Apple store by the end of the year.

Apple, whose iPad and iPhone are among the most pirated gadgets in China, recently saw its retail experience ripped off by copycats in Kunming city.

Apple is striving for greater growth in China via the expansion of its Apple Store network and the roll out of cheaper iPhones.

The Asia-Pacific -- which accounts for about one-fifth of Apple's total revenue -- and Greater China, in particular, helped Apple's revenue surge 82 percent to $28.6 billion in the April-June quarter.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)