International Apple Stores

[arn]

Despite previous denials of plans for official Apple Stores internationally, CNet is reporting that Apple will be opening a retail store in the Netherlands:

Patrick van Sloten, who manages Machouse, an independent Apple dealer in the Netherlands, said Apple has told dealers that it plans to open a store in Amsterdam. An announcement is scheduled for July 17, the same day Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivers a keynote address at Macworld Expo in New York.

 

[redAPPLE]

That would be the right thing to do, if Apple wants to increase awareness and acceptance in Europe.

I have friends over there, who say, "What can you do with it? Can I read my Emails on that thing? Can I write Word Documents?"

I enthusiastically said, "YES! YOU CAN! AND MORE!"

I guess some europeans might regard Apple, with UNIX and Linux machines.

That has to change. Bring the Apple Stores to Europe!

 

[j763]

Apple Australia stores would kick ass but i doubt they'll bother about us

 

[Choppaface]

now all apple needs is some sort of mount for stowing ipods and ibooks on bicycles and they'll be rolln'in the dough

 

[4409723]

Why the Netherlands? England or Germany would be a better choice (they have the largest economies). And in England there are plenty of rich people, judging by the number of porsche's.

Tottenham court road would be the best place with all the computer shops being there.

 

[suranyami]

Why in the Netherlands? Because the support here is woeful!

For a significant capital city in a reasonably affluent European country, Amsterdam has just about the worst Apple support I've ever experienced anywhere!
If they really do open an Apple store here I will be one really happy guy.

And yeah... they should include bicycle adaptors for powerbooks!... and cheese interfaces, too... maybe even have a windmill-powered portable

 

[iwantanewmac]

Originally posted by W-_-W
Why the Netherlands? England or Germany would be a better choice (they have the largest economies). And in England there are plenty of rich people, judging by the number of porsche's.

Tottenham court road would be the best place with all the computer shops being there.

Well...Englands economy isn't all that great and Germany has high unemployment and Holland is the best place to start a new company for 4 years in a row so........
I think it's a great idea!
Now if they just cut the prices a little. (macs are 20% more expensive here)

 

[crassusad44]

Originally posted by iwantanewmac

Now if they just cut the prices a little. (macs are 20% more expensive here)

Heard of VAT? Prices in the US are ex VAT, prices in the EU (and rest of Europe) are incl. VAT.

Personally, I would love to see Apple opening retail stores in Europe. This is something that really could boost international Mac sales. What about an Apple Store on Champs Elysses? That would be cool, and ****ing expensive

 

[Tiauguinho]

Crassusad44

Hmm... i know that prices in the US exclude VAT, but I'll give you an example...

A PowerMac G4 DP1Ghz costs here €3,499 without VAT, with VAT in Portugal that will be €4,163.81!

A Apple Display 23' costs here wihout VAT €4,299, with VAT it costs € 5,115!

A PowerMac G4 DP1ghz costs in the US $2,999

A Apple Display 23' in the US costs $3,499


It's not only the VAT... Prices are very High in Europe...

 

[iGav]

Originally posted by iwantanewmac

Well...Englands economy isn't all that great and Germany has high unemployment and Holland is the best place to start a new company for 4 years in a row so........
I think it's a great idea!
Now if they just cut the prices a little. (macs are 20% more expensive here)

Englands economy is very strong at the moment......... very low unemployment, low interest rates, solid high street spending........... we're in a better position than almost every other economy in Europe to ride out the current volatile global economic conditions.........

Personally I think Apple should focus on an Apple store in the capital city of ever European country.......... and then work from there...... London does certainly need one... (although we do have a small one on New Oxford Street opposite Point 101) the rest are just authorised resellers....... so I do feel that it is essential...... although certainly now more so than in other European countries.......

As for VAT........ almost every reseller currently list Apple products without VAT...... to make them look cheaper... than underneath in ultra weeny type... you see the price including VAT........ small print..... marvellous invention

 

[iGav]

Originally posted by Tiauguinho
It's not only the VAT... Prices are very High in Europe...

It's even worse in Britain........ don't even think about buying a new car in England...... it's cheaper to fly over to Holland, buy one there (RHD as well), drive it back, get a ferry crossing, pay customs and import tax and drive it home...... including all fuel and hotels........ then it is to buy a new car at a local dealer ship 2 miles down the road from your house......... all for exactly the same model....... and you'll still save yourself a few k in the process....... and you get a holiday too.....

Europe in particular Britain....... is just way too f**king expensive.......

 

[dantec]

I think Amsterdam is probably just the start. All the rest of you, shouldn't get worried.

I hope they open up a couple in Europe. Die all you f*ç%&ing swiss mac dealers! I've only been to a retail store once (in CA), and it was great. The staff helped me (they didn't underlook me cause i'm 13), (in switz, i'm underlooked, like a theif, or incompetant, but after I walk out with a quicksilver, then something finally clicks in their little heads). Ever since those experiences 'any' mac hardware or software, I try to get offline.

The Swiss online Apple store is great! They always get their dates wrong . They said my iPod would take 2 weeks to come, and it came in 3 days!

 

[Peter Villevoye]

Apple "Centres" to Apple "Stores" ?

Apple Europe has a long standing tradition of "Apple Centres".
In the late eighties they launched this scheme and local dealers
could buy themselves into this chain of "Apple endorsed" stores.
They all carried the same look, intentions and pretentions...
But they still were privately owned, separate companies.

After a decade, the setup started to crumble. Resellers didn't
want to comply with certain Apple centre rules but still wanted
to take a large bite out of the Apple market. So many resellers
(large ones too) didn't care about a franchising idea anymore.

So I wonder whether this 'new' idea is just a revival of the old,
giving local resellers a (new) chance to show some Apple-style,
since the non-Apple Centres look unappealing to Apple users.
The fact that the (american0 Apple "Store" name won't be used
gives the impression it's something that Apple Europe invented.
Hopefully Jobs approves of it all...

 

[dantec]

If your worried about VAT, just charge it thorugh a company... Then you can deduct it. Or, you can do it like do, if you have 2 passports...


England is totally outrageous, but fun none the less. Like a normal playstation 2 game costs about 25-40 SFR more in England.

Switz is a tad more expensive than the U.S. Like the iPod. If you convert it into SFR, it is around 630-650 SFR, but Apple charges you 745SFR.

 

[sand]

Originally posted by crassusad44


Heard of VAT? Prices in the US are ex VAT, prices in the EU (and rest of Europe) are incl. VAT.

Personally, I would love to see Apple opening retail stores in Europe. This is something that really could boost international Mac sales. What about an Apple Store on Champs Elysses? That would be cool, and ****ing expensive

My experience for Italian prices:
From Apple store:
Imac G4 700 2099€
Powermac G4 800 2279€

All are vat included (in italy The "iva" on this products is 20%).

The Euro has today THE SAME value of dollar so I can' t understand theese prices.

 

[sand]

Originally posted by crassusad44


Heard of VAT? Prices in the US are ex VAT, prices in the EU (and rest of Europe) are incl. VAT.

Personally, I would love to see Apple opening retail stores in Europe. This is something that really could boost international Mac sales. What about an Apple Store on Champs Elysses? That would be cool, and ****ing expensive

My experience for Italian prices:
From Apple store:
Imac G4 700 2099€
Powermac G4 800 2279€

All are vat included (in italy The "iva" on this products is 20%).

The Euro has today THE SAME value of dollar so I can' t understand theese prices.

 

[DidotCicero]

Apple Store Amsterdam as a test

It is my humble opinion that the shop in Amsterdam will be an experiment.
Apple has used the Netherlands before to test marketing strategies.

For example: They used/choose the Primafoonwinkel (a web of telecom related shops owned by KPN, the royal dutch phone company) to sell the iMac nationwide. Which was a unique experiment that had follow-ups in other countries.
They went even further: It proved that the employees of those shops lacked some knowledge of the iMac. Even giving wrong advice. So regular Mac-users (united at spidernet) offered Apple Benelux to assist the people of Primafoon in explaining the possibilities of the machine to the general public. And Apple Benelux responded positive on it. So the first Volunteer iMac Promotion Team was erected. The volunteers were NOT paid, apart from money for gas or train tickets. They traveled all over the Netherlands to tell people about the iMac (and the other mac's) from bookshops to household events. It was eventually disbanded (after a year or so, I'm not sure) and Apple Benelux started to use a English DoubleDecker to tour the Country for a while. Personally I think that was a mistake, the crew lacked the passion and enthousiasm that the volunteers had.

Well, don't blame me, I was just one of the volunteers

 

[Tue12]

VAT this, VAT that ... blah, blah...

Europeans are a messed up bunch, I gotta say. Fun, but messed up. I mean really, you guys expect to legally only work 35hours a week -that is, during the 4 weeks of the year you not on strike or on your utlra-long vacations- while at the same time you expect to have full medical insurance, social insurance, education and labor unions that border on facism/communism. All the while complaining and surprised that you have to actually pay for it with your VATs, high tariffs and 80% income taxes.

The English are wackoo to - they don't even consider themselves European, so why should I - but atleast we respect them. Everytime there's some military butt-kicking to do they're right there with us despite the fact between the whole lot of them they can barely afford a cruise missle to shoot.

Did I mention your women lousy in bed. Surprising, since they're so 'easy' they must get around a lot...

I'm just poking fun, guys.

Spent three years in L'Aquila, Italy; loved it. I'm a Eumarican, practically.

 

[aafuss1]

Originally posted by j763
Apple Australia stores would kick ass but i doubt they'll bother about us

Don't you know Apple Australia stores are called AppleCentres. If you purchase a copy of Australian Macworld at he back of the magazine there's a list of AppleCentres.

 

[j763]

Originally posted by aafuss1


Don't you know Apple Australia stores are called AppleCentres. If you purchase a copy of Australian Macworld at he back of the magazine there's a list of AppleCentres.

dude, applecenters are NOT owned by Apple Australia. AppleCenters are just apple resellers. And to say the least, you certainly wouldn't call an applecenter tech person a 'mac genius'... i spoke to one of them at nextbyte, who had no clue what bluetooth was and thought that unix was a variant of dos (i'm not kidding)... John Groves at metek interstahl is the only one i've met who's got good (in john's case, excellent) technical knowledge.

 

[gerror]

I think we can use one in Amsterdam. As well in all big european cities.

 

[MacFocus]

This would be great, Apple seems to take some serious effort to expose itself into the consumer market over here in the Netherlands.
They even placed an 8 page advertisment which was all about switching from PC to Mac, in the magazine of the largest computerclub in the world (HCCnet, holland).

And the store so close to home...

 

[Peter Villevoye]

Originally posted by j763
dude, applecenters are NOT owned by Apple Australia. AppleCenters are just apple resellers.

Righto ! "Apple Centres" as exploited here in Europe (and seemingly in Australia too) are just a franchising setup. So as long as this new plan is not coming straight from Cupertino, I'm still worried it's just a rip-off to let some local resellers build a chain of new facades for their old shops. We'll see and we'll let y'all know what it is, as soon as Apple NL has spoken...

Keep an eye on http://www.macfreak.org/
(a Mac-site, covering dutch news on 17/7)

BTW: great description of the average european dude, Tue12

Originally posted by Tue12
Europeans are a messed up bunch, I gotta say. Fun, but messed up. I mean really, you guys expect to legally only work 35hours a week -that is, during the 4 weeks of the year you not on strike or on your utlra-long vacations- while at the same time you expect to have full medical insurance, social insurance, education and labor unions that border on facism/communism. All the while complaining and surprised that you have to actually pay for it with your VATs, high tariffs and 80% income taxes.

 

[j763]

what's this about an apple store in france... as a matter of interest, anyone know roughly what apple's market share is in france (i would have thought it would be quite high because macs are 'tres chic').

 

[iGav]

Re: VAT this, VAT that ... blah, blah...

Originally posted by Tue12
Europeans are a messed up bunch, I gotta say. Fun, but messed up. I mean really, you guys expect to legally only work 35hours a week -that is, during the 4 weeks of the year you not on strike or on your utlra-long vacations- while at the same time you expect to have full medical insurance, social insurance, education and labor unions that border on facism/communism. All the while complaining and surprised that you have to actually pay for it with your VATs, high tariffs and 80% income taxes.

The English are wackoo to - they don't even consider themselves European, so why should I - but atleast we respect them. Everytime there's some military butt-kicking to do they're right there with us despite the fact between the whole lot of them they can barely afford a cruise missle to shoot.

The Europeans certainly do get off lightly with only 35 hours per week........ it's 42 to 44 in old Blighty......... unless you're a NHS Doctor that is.......... winjing about working 65 hour weeks....... 65 hours......... seems like heaven to me......