Apple planning retail offensive

Apple is reportedly looking to open 40-50 Apple Stores

Apple is planning a major expansion of its retail operations, with new shops in London and Paris.

The company is reportedly looking to add 40-50 stores to its Apple Store operations. More than half of the planned stores are said to be for locations outside of the US.

According to Reuters, Apple senior retail vice president Ron Johnson broke the news of the 2010 plans ahead of the opening of Apple's latest retail location in New York City.

In hailing the opening of the new store, Apple also released data about the performance of its retail branch. The company said that it now operates some 280 Apple Store locations in 10 countries around the world. Apple estimates that those stores have served a total of some 180 million customers.

Those stores have played a major part in Apple's success, as the company recently posted its best quarterly results ever.

Apple's planned offensive comes as long-time rival Microsoft is preparing a retail push of its own. The Redmond giant has recruited a former Wal-Mart executive in its campaign to take Apple on in the brick-and-mortar storefront space.