Apple's First Retail Stores in Middle East Open October 29

[MacRumors]

Apple has announced that its first two retail stores in the Middle East will open in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two most populous cities in the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, October 29. The nearest Apple Stores to the UAE are currently located several hours away in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey.

The new Apple Store in Dubai will be located at the Mall of the Emirates, and will celebrate its grand opening at 4:00 PM local time, while the Abu Dhabi store will be located inside Yas Mall and hold its grand opening three hours later at 7:00 PM local time. Each store will open at 10 AM and close between 10 PM and midnight local time.

Apple has been rumored to be constructing the "world's largest" Apple Store in Dubai since August 2014, and began hiring for the upcoming UAE store that same month. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the UAE in February 2014 to discuss the future of the IT sector with Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and other officials.

Apple Watch will be available in Saudi Arabia and the UAE on October 22 as part of the wrist-worn device's eighth launch wave, a week in advance of both store openings. In the UAE, pricing for the Apple Watch Sport will start at 1,399 dirhams for the 38mm model, which is equivalent to approximately $380 in U.S. dollars.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/654556005871693824

Both new Apple Stores will provide traditional services such as the Genius Bar, Events, Workshops and Personal Setup.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple's First Retail Stores in Middle East Open October 29

 

[iLoveiTunes]

Time to sell some gold watches baby !

 

[SchneiderMan]

You'd think they'd open one in Israel by now, considering they've got research centers there and have acquired a few startups.

 

[konqerror]

You'd think they'd open one in Israel by now, considering they've got research centers there and have acquired a few startups.

I suspect it's a small market. iPhones are subject to a 35% import tax there. More evidence is that Apple half-assed the OS X Arabic and Hebrew localizations by not mirroring the UI, where Microsoft has done it correctly since Windows 98. iOS didn't do it right either until 9.

 

[mactactic]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

 

[ianrip]

If you buy an iphone in the UAE, facetime is missing, its nowhere to be seem in the iOs
So lets see what it says on the box

 

[ghost187]

I thought they already had one in Turkey? Isn't that considered Middle East?

 

[majkom]

Meanwhile in Central Europe (Czech rep. + Slovak rep. + Poland + Hungary + Austria) - NO APPLE STORE at all! Thks Tim, really awesome paying premium for worse service.

 

[fullauto]

Didn't they stop Russian sales or something over discrimination of LGBT rights? Money talks huh.

 

[taedouni]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

Doesn't Apple have stores in Russia? Last time I checked, being a homosexual in Russia was pretty rough. Anyway, Apple has been selling to middle east countries for years (online store). Apple is a corporation that relies on money. Hell, Apple has stores in China (one of the most oppressive countries).

If you are really concerned about human rights in the middle east, then you should urge the government to stop buying oil from the middle east (which I am all for).

 

[mactactic]

Sometimes , people need to put beliefs ahead of profits , I agree with you on oil thing.

 

[bushido]

I thought they already had one in Turkey? Isn't that considered Middle East?

dont think so its mostly Eurasia and also a "democracy" unlike all the others

 

[springsup]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

It's not his company. He runs it, but he can be fired if he isn't doing what the shareholders want. He can't just inject his personal opinions in when it comes to who the company does business with. That's absolutely not what being the CEO of the world's largest corporation is all about.

Also, what good would it do? They would still get Apple's products, or competitor's product which does the same function, one way or another. Besides, women are able to buy and use Apple's products - the same products women in the rest of the world have access to - for their education, enjoyment, whatever. Their products aren't specifically prohibited from certain groups, otherwise they might have more to say on the matter.

I don't agree that Apple withholding sales from the ME would bring about any positive change there in those areas at all. Even if the entire technology industry followed suit and they were reduced to using inferior technology (or privately importing), it would just feel like bullying and snobbishness by foreigners who don't share their culture or understand their religion. You don't make change in foreign places; that's not your business. However, if you give them the right tools and information, you can help them make changes of their own accord. It needs to come from home. They need to realise for themselves why these changes are important and what benefits it has for their society. You can't impose that level of understanding on people.

 

[Armstrong1889]

I thought they already had one in Turkey? Isn't that considered Middle East?

Apple consider Turkey as an European Country:

 

[PeterJay]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.

You may have a point, although access to western goods and services helps make them desirable, which could be held to be a "way in" to these cultures, leading to their eventual westernisation.

 

[Armstrong1889]

They offer "Women Only" workshops !!

 

[szw-mapple fan]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

I would argue the opposite. Unless a company has a loyal following in a countries and invests, for example, in manufacturing and such, that company will have no leverage to influence how people think and how the government will operate.

 

[macs4nw]

Apple consider Turkey as an European Country:

I see that, but that is however quite a stretch. True, Istanbul is in the European part of Turkey (and at over 13 Million inhabitants also Europe's third largest city btw), but the largest chunk of the country by far, is part of Asia.

 

[MH01]

That bottom image looks like a male stick figure who is very excited about the new Apple Store.

What is it suppose to be ?

 

[dougal55]

Meanwhile in Central Europe (Czech rep. + Slovak rep. + Poland + Hungary + Austria) - NO APPLE STORE at all! Thks Tim, really awesome paying premium for worse service.

And Croatia as well if you consider it part of Central Europe. Likewise with Slovenia too! I'm guessing out of those countries, I'd hazard a guess and reckon both Austria and possibly Poland would open Apple stores within next year or so. Just depends on what is in the pipeline for Apple for next year or the year after. I just can't see the others having Apple stores just yet maybe within 5 years. Who knows?

 

[MH01]

You may have a point, although access to western goods and services helps make them desirable, which could be held to be a "way in" to these cultures, leading to their eventual westernisation.

It's just about making bigger profits . These goods are already sold in the region, an Apple Store is not going to "westernise" the way of thinking or culture, it's going to bump up profits.

 

[ginkobiloba]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

One thing though : Dubai, and the other UAE countries are VERY different from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an extremely conservative country, contrary to its neighbors where women are present in all businesses, people ( including women, locals) wear bikinis at the beach and you can get alcolhol in many places. They are still quite conservative countries, but not comparable to Saudi Arabia in any way.
Not sure there will be an Apple Store opening in Saudi Arabia soon...

 

[rorschach]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

The best way to influence change is not to cut off all ties, but to be open.

Do you really think things there are more likely to change if they are walled off and isolated from the rest of the world? We've had that policy for 50+ years with Cuba; how's that worked out?

 

[SBlue1]

If I were Apple I would have no dealings or sell my products to any country in the Middle East that are repressive to woman or gay people.
If Tim Cook is so anament about gay rights and woman's rights Apple should ban all sales of products and goods !!
I'm so sick of liberal elitist that don't put there money where there mouth is !!
Jobs would have never approved of this deal !!

Who are you to tell people in the ME what is right and what is wrong?? Do I tell people in the US that guns should be banned and nipples are not porn just because I feel that this is the way it should be?

If this is the way they want to live let it be. They have to learn by themselves.

 

[Jacquesvw]

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