Apple opens first store in Brazil - with world's highest priced iPhone on sale

Latin America's first store will stock £700 16GB iPhone 5s

Apple swung open the doors on Saturday to its first-ever store in Brazil - also its first in Latin America, a region that the iPhone maker believes is important for growth.

Chief executive Tim Cook said last year that more than 50 per cent of people in emerging markets such as China and Brazil buying an iPad had not previously owned an Apple product.

Announcing the store opening on Twitter, he said: "'Obrigado' to everyone who visited our new store in Rio de Janeiro today and to our terrific customers across Brazil!"

The store, as with many that Apple has opened in new regions, drew a big crowd - more than 1,700 people, according to Brazilian newspaper The Globe.

Brazil is the 15th country in which Apple operates its own chain of stores and, as competition heats up between the Cupertino, California-based firm and South Korean rival Samsung, the company hopes to make its mark in new markets.

For consumers in Brazil, buying an iPhone will come at a considerably higher price than in other countries in which Apple operates.

The 16GB iPhone 5s will be sold offline for R$2,799 (£700), compared with $649 in the US (equivalent to £387 on a straight currency conversion) and £549 in the UK.

According to Bloomberg, the price of the iPhone 5s has shot up by 17 per cent since September.