Dubai Apple Store opening pushed back to at least October, report claims
The launch of a Dubai Apple Store -- the company's first in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East, outside of Turkey -- is being delayed by at least a month, a report said on Thursday.
The shop was most recently expected to open towards the end of September, but now won't open until October or later, sources remarked to regional English-language publication The National. A May rumor suggested an August opening.
The outlet is still expected to be based in the Mall of the Emirates. The National added though that Apple is not only working on another store in Abu Dhabi, but a second Dubai location, the latter in the Dubai Mall.
On Wednesday, a report said that the UAE bowed to pressure and made an exemption in its foreign ownership laws, allowing Apple to set up retail stores under its own terms. Without the exemption, Apple would have had to ensure that at least 51 percent of its local branch was owned by Emiratis.
Apple's runaway financial success in the past few years has allowed it to build stores in countries it previously left untapped, Turkey being a recent example. The company is also expected to open first Belgian store as soon as Sept. 19.
The shop was most recently expected to open towards the end of September, but now won't open until October or later, sources remarked to regional English-language publication The National. A May rumor suggested an August opening.
The outlet is still expected to be based in the Mall of the Emirates. The National added though that Apple is not only working on another store in Abu Dhabi, but a second Dubai location, the latter in the Dubai Mall.
On Wednesday, a report said that the UAE bowed to pressure and made an exemption in its foreign ownership laws, allowing Apple to set up retail stores under its own terms. Without the exemption, Apple would have had to ensure that at least 51 percent of its local branch was owned by Emiratis.
Apple's runaway financial success in the past few years has allowed it to build stores in countries it previously left untapped, Turkey being a recent example. The company is also expected to open first Belgian store as soon as Sept. 19.
Comments
Is this a case of people making up a timeframe and then stating them as fact which fuel the rumour mill, or were there actual deadlines Apple had tried to meet for this opening? If the latter, what is the hold up?
edit: I see [@]mike1[/@] beat me to it.
That may be their law for foreign ownership, but clearly it's not set in stone. I wonder how many other foreign businesses have successfully obtained that right?
That may be their law for foreign ownership, but clearly it's not set in stone. I wonder how many other foreign businesses have successfully obtained that right?
I was going to say that the most likely company to be given similar treatment would be Microsoft. I did little research and this turned up
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=61145690
I am not sure is Microsoft Gulf FZ LLC is fully owned by Microsoft or not. I couldn't find more info about it.
EDIT: It seems that they are operating under the Free Zone law (hence FZ in the name). So it is most likely fully owned by MS.
Using that info I was able to locate the following site.
When I input Apple I get Apple M E FZCO with a country of origin of Ireland, which fits with their overseas sales. Then, putting Apple M E FZCO into google the following site comes up, which makes it seem legit, even if the email address listed in the first link is atypical for Apple.
I don't see any overt Apple tie-in to Baker Mckenzie except for them having an App Store app.
Anyway, that site does seem to list a great many companies operating in the Free Zone when I did a search for the letter 'a' (wouldn't let me leave that parameter blank).
I don't see any overt Apple tie-in to Baker Mckenzie except for them having an App Store app.
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/21/apple-wants-big-data-as-it-acquires-u-k-media-analytics-startup-semetric/
https://www.apple.com/jobs/euro/eu_registration.html - Sweden
http://www.scribd.com/doc/256730669/Camel-Audio-Acquired-by-Apple#scribd
And not to blow up anybody LinkedIn page...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkijohnstone
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-hacker/4/952/8a
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/elisabeth-von-schoeler/49/100/77b
https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/emily-riddle/25/6b9/448
The black wall is already up at Mall of the Emirates. I was there the other day and I can confirm the photo by 7Days.ae.
http://7days.ae/have-we-found-the-apple-store-in-the-uae
The store does not look that big but it is extremely deep. It's still not finished yet so I believe it will open in September or October. Apple will likely mention it during the September keynote.
So tell me where the store is?