As France enters its third Covid-19 lockdown phase, Apple has decided to shut down its stores in the country. While Apple Stores have been generally returning to normal worldwide, Apple has now shut all 20 stores in France, AppleInsider reported on Friday. We will soon close temporarily, said a notice on the Apple Opera Paris s site (in translation). For the moment, we are open for the collection of current online orders, and assistance at the Genius Bar for appointments already scheduled before Saturday, April 3, it added. According to MacGeneration, the closure is until further notice. This closure includes ones in French city centers, which had previously been able to continue operating in January s lockdown.
Apple said on Wednesday it would establish a European silicon design centre in Munich, Germany, and invest more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) over the next three years in expanding its team there and in research and development. Munich is already Apple s largest engineering hub in Europe, with close to 1,500 engineers from 40 countries working in areas including power management design, application processors, and wireless technologies. The new facility will be home to Apple s growing cellular unit, and Europe s largest R&D site for mobile wireless semiconductors and software, Apple said in a statement, adding that the team would focus on 5G and other wireless technologies.
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