The iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store is New York's top photo attraction

See the circle labeled “1” on the image above? Researcher Eric Fischer created this amazing heat map showing photo densities by using geotags that belong to millions of snaps publicly available on Flickr. Turns out Apple’s prominent glass cube store, which is open for business 24/7, isn’t just a landmark site – it’s one of the city’s four major photo attractions as well. Other favorite locations include Rockefeller Center (2), Columbus Circle (3) and the Manhattan area around Times Square (4). According to ifoAppleStore, a site specialized in tracking Apple’s retail ventures:

Fischer also used the date and time of the photos to categorize the photos as being shot by locals or tourists. He then plotted the locations to create a heat map that reveals patterns of photographic interest. He performed the same photo analysis for several other cities, showing that tourists and locals have a very different eye for what is interesting. In other cities with high-profile Apple stores, the stores’ heat is less obvious because they’re surrounded by other attractions.

They don’t call Apple the America’s greatest retailer for no apparent reason. Be that as it may, Apple’s Shanghai store in the Pudong district looks set to become even more popular with tourists and locals. Apple’s Chinese stores have quickly emerged as the company’s highest-trafficked and highest-revenue stores in the world. The Pudong store opened for business in the summer of last year. The store is located at the heart of the Shanghai Pudong Lujiazui international financial center, right next to the Shanghai’s landmark Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and features a 40-feet high glass cylinder with glass staircase that lead to a 1,500 square feet underground retail space with more than 250 products on display. The store also features the largest Genius Bar Apple has ever built.