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Apple Making Plans for First Two Retail Stores in Hong Kong

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Apr 12, 2001
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Bloomberg reports on an article from the South China Morning Post claiming that Apple is making plans for its first two retail stores in Hong Kong, with the first store set to open by the end of the year and a second one by the third quarter of 2012.
The company will open its first outlet in the city, a 15,000 square foot store at the IFC Mall in Central, by the end of the year, the report said. It is also building a 20,000 square foot shop in Hysan Place, Causeway Bay, which is expected to start operating by the third quarter of next year, according to the Morning Post.
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Apple has been placing a strong focus on its "Greater China" market, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, viewing the region's untapped potential as a major growth area for the company. Apple currently operates retail stores in eleven countries, with four stores located in China and many more planned for the region.

Article Link: Apple Making Plans for First Two Retail Stores in Hong Kong
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/25/apple-making-plans-for-first-two-retail-stores-in-hong-kong/
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How does the pricing in China compare to here? Seems it would be considerably cheaper since it's manufactured there and because the wage is much lower as well.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Do they have a store in TW yet? I did not think they had built one yet.
 
WiiDSmoker said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

How does the pricing in China compare to here? Seems it would be considerably cheaper since it's manufactured there and because the wage is much lower as well.
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http://www.apple.com/hk/macbookpro/ + http://www.x-rates.com/d/HKD/table.html

= 2474 $ for the 17", in comparison to the US - 2499 $. I don't know the tax rates from HK, might be none. In that case it would be about 149$ cheaper to buy it there.

It's not because it's produced over there, it's cheaper. Apple has universal prices and profit margins calculated (that's why everything from  you buy in the EU is much more expensive - here there are vat rates of 19-21% in comparison to 5% (? I believe) in the US).
 
No sales tax in Hong Kong for electronics. Hardware is generally cheaper in HK than in Canada/US before tax, and considerably cheaper here after tax in those regions.

Sounds great- the 'Authorized Retailers' here are completely useless. No stock for many items (ie if you want that order it thru us- but why would you do if when you can get a free printer if you order thru appleclub.com.hk?) and no ability to service items on-site.
 
Long overdue!! authorized resellers here have no passion for the products they carry.. we need some real genius in HK.
 
Its about damn time. Its shocking to me its taken this long. Really shocking. Its been a huge mistake on apples part. I have lived here two years and I think the iPhone is even more popular here then in America. Every year you see more and more apple lap tops in Starbucks and Pacific Coffee. They could easily have 6 to 10 stores in HK alone.

Hysan Place. Very nice. Two blocks from my apartment. New mall opening early next year I believe.

Prices are a few percentage points cheaper depending on the product and where you get it from and of course there is no sales tax. I looked into the 13inch upgrade last year and I was going to get it by about HK$500 cheaper which comes to about 80 bucks plus no sales tax. The iphone unless u get it through your carrier is far more expensive due to high demand, much of which is created because phones come factory unlocked in HK plus the massive number of mainland Chinese that come to HK to shop.
 
Surprised they haven't already done this. It seems like the perfect move to keep their momentum going in china.
 
Shocked its taken this long in a city where Burberry is equivalent to the Gap (around 20 stores). High end retail is the norm and people buy MSRP, sales were uncommon unlike the states.
 
neko girl said:
So many expats there. They will do very well.
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Apple gear is hugely popular with HKrs... not sure what expats have to do with it. You see far more Apple gear here per capita than anywhere in the states, including Manhattan.

Granted, mobile penetration in HK is far beyond anything in the US or Europe. Wifi pretty much everywhere, and 3G truly blazing fast. You could swing a cat and hit an iPad or iPhone every time.
 
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WiiDSmoker said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

How does the pricing in China compare to here? Seems it would be considerably cheaper since it's manufactured there and because the wage is much lower as well.
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Prices may be slightly cheaper in HK, but in the mainland they're far more expensive than in the states. It has nothing to do with shipping or wages, everything to do with high import duties. Foreign-branded goods manufactured in China must be cleared through a customs clearing zone, usually a port where all the container ships are loaded, then re-imported back into China for sale in the domestic market. All "foreign" goods are subject to roughly 30% duties here, so clothes, food, electronics, cosmetics, luxury goods, etc, are all far higher than in the US and Hong Kong. I've had my friends visit here and when they want to go shopping I advise them to head straight on to HK, or just go shopping back in the states. Unless they're looking for cheap knockoffs, of course. Then they've come to the right place.:D

Apple is correct in being slow in its assessment of the Chinese market. The only way to survive is to position yourself as an unassailable luxury marque. Retail electronics business is BRUTAL in China. Foreign competitors have little chance. Best Buy just announced they're closing all of their China stores:

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-china-2011-2
 
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Ping Guo said:
Granted, mobile penetration in HK is far beyond anything in the US or Europe. Wifi pretty much everywhere, and 3G truly blazing fast.
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I guess you're not using '3' then ;) Their 3G speeds are woeful :(

As for PCCW Wifi, it's ubiquitous but the bane of every iPhone/Pad/Touch user with Wifi Enabled.
 
octarine said:
I guess you're not using '3' then ;) Their 3G speeds are woeful :(
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Woeful compared to where? I've used 3 before, it's OK. CSL launched the world's fastest 3g network in HK a couple years ago. Comparisons to cities in the US are... well there is no comparison. 3g coverage and speed in HK is leagues ahead.

octarine said:
As for PCCW Wifi, it's ubiquitous but the bane of every iPhone/Pad/Touch user with Wifi Enabled.
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Care to elaborate?
 
Ping Guo said:
Woeful compared to where? I've used 3 before, it's OK. CSL launched the world's fastest 3g network in HK a couple years ago. Comparisons to cities in the US are... well there is no comparison. 3g coverage and speed in HK is leagues ahead.
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Compared to PCCW, CSL or Smartone.


Ping Guo said:
Care to elaborate?
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Use "PCCW" once, anywhere, and every time you walk past a hotspot whilst using data it thows up a login screen, stealing the focus on your device.
Use "PCCW1x" once, anywhere, and every time you are within range of a PCCW hotspot, your phone will switch secretly to PCCW1x, with no login screen (iOS seems to assume that if you've entered WPA details that's all you'll need). However, since PCCW still needs you to enter the web login screen to enable any data transfer, the result for the end user (me) is that all data connectivity on my device just stops. To resolve I either have to go to safari and login, or disable Wifi manually.

Maybe this is just specific to me, but I doubt it.

Note: 1. I am using Single-Device Plan, so the login is keyed to my MAC Addr, yet PCCW *still* force their crummy login page on me.

Also - I believe if you have a PCCW SIM card, you can install a certificate for PCCW1x that removes the need for the login screen, (but as said above, I am on 3:( )
 
octarine said:
Compared to PCCW, CSL or Smartone.
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Yeah but 3g networks are still much faster in HK than anywhere in North America, that was my simple point.

octarine said:
Use "PCCW" once, anywhere, and every time you walk past a hotspot whilst using data it thows up a login screen, stealing the focus on your device.
Use "PCCW1x" once, anywhere, and every time you are within range of a PCCW hotspot, your phone will switch secretly to PCCW1x, with no login screen (iOS seems to assume that if you've entered WPA details that's all you'll need). However, since PCCW still needs you to enter the web login screen to enable any data transfer, the result for the end user (me) is that all data connectivity on my device just stops. To resolve I either have to go to safari and login, or disable Wifi manually.( )
Click to expand...

So basically you're walking around with wifi enabled and you get a login screen around the hotspots? If you have 3g why don't you leave wifi switched off unless you need it, wouldn't that stop the problem?
 
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