Why Burberry's CEO is the right pick for Apple

Apple on Monday announced the major new hire of a big name from the fashion world — Angela Ahrendts, the CEO of Burberry Group, who will head up Apple's retail and online stores. Ahrendts is credited with quadrupling the fashion brand's sales, incorporating digital initiatives into marketing (unusual in fashion luxury), and, most pertinently, popularizing a high-end western brand in China.

Ahrendts' resume seems like a strong fit to help Apple shake off its troubles of recent years, which include a drooping stock price, a drop-off in groundbreaking new products, and fear among investors that the brand could wilt without the leadership of late-CEO Steve Jobs. Though sales are still enormous — $4 billion just last quarter — growth is flat compared to the same quarter last year, and down 22 percent from the previous quarter. In the words of Tech Crunch's Ingrid Lunden, "That's something that needs fixing."

Part of Apple's plan to regain its mojo is to focus its energy on China — a country with huge opportunity for growth. Apple's recent iPhone 5C, a lower-cost model of the classic iPhone, was aimed in part at courting Chinese buyers unwilling to pay $500 or more for a smartphone. But sales have yet to take hold. China is dominated by Apple rival Samsung, as well as other brands like Lenovo and Huawei, leaving Apple with just 5 percent of market share.

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"Ahrendts looks like someone who can bring the Apple retail operation what it needs — knowledge of how to go really big in Asia," says Matt Yglesias at Slate.

As Nigam Arora put it in Forbes:

The market for high end smartphones is near saturation in the United States but this is not the case in China. From a growth perspective, China is more important than the United States to Apple.

Under Ahrendts, Burberry showed remarkable growth in China. China has 30 cities the size of Paris. All of these cities are ripe for more than one Apple store. [Forbes]

If the connection between fashion and tech seems a little loose, note that Ahrendts is also known for growing online sales at Burberry and using social media to grow excitement around fashion shows. "Burberry.com delivers in more than 100 countries and the website has been translated into eight languages, including Korean and Spanish," says The Guardian, which is more than many luxury fashion brands can say.

Another link between Burberry and Apple is, of course, the focus on design. Austin Carr at Fast Company says, "Most significantly, [Ahrendts] brings a reverence for design and customer experience that's consistent with Apple's DNA — unlike her predecessor, John Browett — which will be crucial in rejuvenating Cupertino's retail experience."