At the media preview of Apples’ fourth Manhattan store, on Broadway at West 67th Street, which will open to public on Saturday, the Apple Senior VP of retail, Ron Johnson, said that the company intends opening 40-50 retail stores in the coming year.

Talking about the Apple retail strategy of getting computer users to switch from PCs to Macs, Johnson said: “Our Apple stores are a magnet for switchers. About half the people who come into our retail locations are first-time Mac buyers.”

Johnson further referred to the Apple Genius Bar, and said that the company offers specific services, like face-to-face customer service and support, to assist users in effectively and easily switching from a PC to a Mac with confidence.

Citing an example, Johnson mentioned one particular service, One-to-One service, which allows new Mac users to drift off their old computer in such a way that their files are transferred from their older systems to a new Mac.

About the 2010-planned stores, Johnson elaborated that more than half of stores will be outside of the US – in Canada, UK, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, and China.

Apple’s plan of international expansion is understandable, given the fact that despite the gloomy consumer spending scenario of late, Apple stores have reported impressive figures – Apple’s June-September quarter had almost 46 million visitors to its stores, resulting in $1.87 billion in revenue.