Apple to Open First Retail Store in Singapore in Late 2016

[MacRumors]

The Pure Group today announced that its Pure Fitness gym located at Knightsbridge, a four-storey luxury shopping center in Singapore, will be closing on December 15, 2015 to make space for the first Apple Store in the country opening late 2016, per Tech in Asia and multiple Singaporean news outlets.

Pure Fitness is located at 270 Orchard Road in Singapore (Google Maps)​

Pure Fitness will reportedly be one of several tenants relocating to allow for the upcoming Apple Store at 270 Orchard Road, an upscale area in the city center. The gym sent customers a similar notice that confirms it "will be handing back space to the landlord to make way for the opening of Singapore's first Apple store later in 2016."

Apple does not have an official retail presence in Singapore, a large city-state and country south of Malaysia in Southeast Asia, but the Apple Online Store and dozens of Apple Authorized Resellers operate in the region. The closest physical Apple Stores are located several hours away in Australia and Hong Kong.

Article Link: Apple to Open First Retail Store in Singapore in Late 2016

 

[slayerz96]

Really glad... Really really glad. Apple support in Singapore has been rather mediocre - AppleCare calls are often routed to Australia (based on personal experiences)!

Singapore is finally getting the attention.

 

[EldonChew]

Finally!

The authorised resellers and service providers here sucks!

I queued for 3 hours to fix my phone.

You can imagine the queue and crowd in the service store which is giving Apple a really bad reputation.

 

[darenyoong]

Excellent news. It was very hard getting an early look at new hardware in Singapore, as stock for most resellers only comes in 2-4 weeks after the official launch. Having an Apple Store in Singapore will also hopefully give the resellers more healthy competition.

 

[p3ncil]

Finally.
The premium resellers here are terrible

 

[2457282]

This is interesting. Did Apple buy out PURE's lease? How did it come about that PURE and others will move to make space for Apple?

 

[cplee70]

It's about time! Singapore has one of the highest adoption rates of Apple products. Not sure why it took so long for Apple to finally open an official Apple Retail Store here. Better late than never!

Looking forward to queue at the store just in time for the iPhone 7 launch!

--cp

 

[stehsegler2]

The support offering by licensed Apple re-sellers in Singapore is a joke. This is long overdue. My guess is all those shops offering Apple products and support from Wheelock Place right down to Plaza Singapura will pretty much be out of business come mid 2017. By mid 2018 the majority of Apple re-sellers will be gone. This is what happened in Australia and I doubt Singapore will be any different.

 

[zzLZHzz]

This is interesting. Did Apple buy out PURE's lease? How did it come about that PURE and others will move to make space for Apple?

Apple probably did that, they have the $ to do it. that is especially when the notice put up by PURE was short.

The support offering by licensed Apple re-sellers in Singapore is a joke. This is long overdue. My guess is all those shops offering Apple products and support from Wheelock Place right down to Plaza Singapura will pretty much be out of business come mid 2017. By mid 2018 the majority of Apple re-sellers will be gone. This is what happened in Australia and I doubt Singapore will be any different.

given the re-seller level of service, they do not deserve to be around. but re-seller outlet at the heartland area will probably still be around but i definitely won't go to them.

had always brought apple product from the online store since there is no official store in singapore.

 

[justperry]

About time, I don't get it why it took so long.
It's a shoppers paradise, lots of local people buy Apple, and lots (millions) of tourists with money visit Singapore, it should have one years ago.

Apple does not have an official retail presence in Singapore, a large city-state and country south of Malaysia in Southeast Asia, but the Apple Online Store and dozens of Apple Authorized Resellers operate in the region. The closest physical Apple Stores are located several hours away in Australia and Hong Kong.​

Singapore is a major city, no need to add its location, I think MR readers know where it is located.
It will take you a minimum of 7-8 hours by plane to get from Singapore to HK or Australia.(Including getting to and from airport and waiting time.

SG to HK = 4 hours flight
SG to Brisbane (closest Apple store in AUS) = 8 hours flight

 

[heehee]

Finally!

The authorised resellers and service providers here sucks!

I queued for 3 hours to fix my phone.

You can imagine the queue and crowd in the service store which is giving Apple a really bad reputation.

You would be lucky to make a genius appointment in downtown Toronto within a week and we have a few stores in Greater Toronto Area.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

You would be lucky to make a genius appointment in downtown Toronto within a week and we have a few stores in Greater Toronto Area.

Thankfully we have a lot of Apple Stores in and around the Greater Toronto Area to choose from.

There are 4 stores within Toronto city limits: Eaton Centre, Fairview, Sherway Gardens and Yorkdale.

There are 4 more stores within a 30-45 minute drive in Markham, Newmarket, Mississauga and Burlington.

There is also a store an hour away in Waterloo, and 2 more each about 2 hours away in Buffalo, NY and London.

That's 11 Apple Stores within a 2 hour drive of Toronto. I'd say we're pretty lucky!

 

[slayerz96]

AASPs and authorised resellers are really bad. I used to work for one after my A levels and I must say that while some staff members do show a level of customer care, many others do not and most have little idea about the products themselves.

Worse is when the management decides to create "forced bundles" to try to earn profits. There have been several incidences where cheap screen protectors had to be sold with an iPad at launch at an additional $20 premium. For my old part-time workplace, the company was actually able to mark up the price of the iPhone 5 by about $100 compared to other resellers or the Apple Store online.

Such shameful behaviour must be put to an end. When Apple has an actual retail presence here, I sure hope these resellers/AASPs will up the ante or risk losing customers.

 

[zadkielyeo]

Finally.. It's about time, the oligopoly of so called "premium" resellers/service providers will be over. The entire climate just spells profit priority and mediocre service (I'm not saying apple doesn't want to sell their products, but at least they show that they care).
Have been disappointed that we couldn't experience the proper apple store experience.
You'll understand what I mean if you've experienced it at an apple store overseas

Good riddance.

 

[wordup60]

Apple does not have an official retail presence in Singapore, a large city-state and country south of Malaysia in Southeast Asia.

Explaining what and where Singapore is. Cute. Also, if you don't know where Singapore is, referencing it in relation to Malaysia probably isn't going to help much.

 

[indieda]

I am ABSOLUTELY STOKED AT THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The emails and the feedback to Apple has been heard (although it took quite awhile).

 

[Justin8789]

Finally!

The authorised resellers and service providers here sucks!

I queued for 3 hours to fix my phone.

You can imagine the queue and crowd in the service store which is giving Apple a really bad reputation.

Other people had to fix their phone as well as you. thats why the queue not?

 

[slayerz96]

Apple Job Postings for Singapore's upcoming retail store are now live!

https://jobs.apple.com/sg/search?jobType=2