Apple retail presence continues to grow and produce

Years ago, when Apple announced they were opening retail stores I don't know that anyone expected them to be such a resounding success. But yesterday's call confirmed this fact, as nearly every metric was up: sales, traffic and number of new stores. The Apple retail engine is firing on all cylinders.

Some highlights:

• Revenues are up 75% since last year. Last year revenues were $2.04 billion, and this year they were $3.57 billion.
• Mac sales went up from 670,000 to 874,000, a 30% increase.
• Almost half of Mac sales were to new customers, something we've been hearing for years.
• Foot traffic in stores were also up significantly, reaching 74.5 million, up 62% from last year.
• Expansion has been a big deal as well, with Apple opening 24 new stores, and 16 of those were outside the US. The Beijing and Shanghai stores were noted in the call, with the Shanghai store opening on the last day of the quarter yet blowing away sales records from all store openings in years past.
• Further increasing its reach, Apple plans to open 40-50 new stores in 2011, with half of those overseas, and it plans to renovate many existing stores to reflect its new product lines and achieve "service goals."

No matter how you look at it, Apple's retail efforts have been a huge success in Q4.