Apple to open retail stores in Taiwan

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple Computer has announced a new sales strategy to further develop its businesses in Taiwan, according to Taiwan Daily News.



The Cupertino, Calif-based Apple will reportedly set up a flagship store in downtown Taipei to help boost sales of its new consumer electronic product-line, including the iPod digital music player.



The flagship location will also be complimented by two similar, but smaller franchised shops in downtown area, the Taiwanese publication says. Unfortunately, no specific dates or timeframes for the store openings were made available.



In addition to the three planned retail locations, Apple Taiwan will also hook-up with local 7-11 convenience chain stores to sell the silver-color iPod mini models around the island.



The computer company currently outsources a large percentage of its notebook and desktop manufacturing in Taiwan through locally operating companies such as Quanta, Compal and Hon Hai (Foxconn).

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    In addition to the three planned retail locations, Apple Taiwan will also hook-up with local 7-11 convenience chain stores to sell the silver-color iPod mini models around the island.



    Hold on. 7-11's? Quite odd. I would have thought McD's and you would get an iPod with every Happy Meal purchase - super-sized ofcourse.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    I've been in Taiwan before... Mcdonalds buildings are 7 stories tall and have playplaces for kids that are multistoried. There is no "super-size" in these mcdonalds. fish-filets are these tiny little things, and when you order a regular orange juice, it's like in a 4 oz cup, soda has no refills... mcdonalds really cheaps out, probably because beef and oranges are harder to get on an island that only has a couple cow farms and orange trees can't live in humid hot mountainous terrains.



    Using 7-11 is a very good strategy, circle K and 7-11 are slightly different in taiwan, there is one positioned every quarter mile down the street (you can literally stand outside one 7-11 look down the street and see the next one), so the availability is huge if you sell ipods in each one.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    Talking about these other stores. They take the words "flooding the market" seriously. I still don't know how I feel about this idea. If it was my business I would have a hard time associating my company and such a product with 7-11. Maybe they're looked upon different there but I would expect some cheap-o Apple/iPod rip-off company to market this way. Coming out with a new iPod and some loaded nachos might not be that bad.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    Convenience stores such as 7-11 and AM/PM are pretty much alike throughout Asia in that you can pretty much buy anything there you need to live. Forget the aisles of potato chips and Coke. Aside from a huge variety of snacks and drinks, you can also buy emergency umbrellas, fax a document for a fee, make copies, fix a broken heel, buy a toothbrush, purchase a pack of CD-Rs, pay a cellphone bill, buy a museum pass, or microwave a lunch.



    I guess there's room for the mini somewhere in there.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tonton

    Nope. Not here. There's no way you have photocopying or shoe repair services at any 7-11 here. They're usually the size of a closet.



    In Japan they don't offer shoe repair services either, but you can buy yourself something for a broken heel. What are those? I can't remember, as I've never had a heel to break before.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    aflscaflsc Posts: 1member
    1. 7-11s in Taiwan are not like 7-11s in Hong Kong. Only 7-11s in Japan are comparable. 7-11s across Asia are quite different from one another. 7-11s in Taiwan are heavenly places, sometimes quite large, and often across the street from one another. As well as photocopying and great selections of pastry and juices, they have ATM machines, DHL services (since October) and will even pin the cinema listings from the daily paper on the wall so you don't have to buy a copy. It's also where I pay most of my bills. 7-11s in Hong Kong and Singapore are more like 7-11s in Bangkok and Manila by comparison. Although 7-11s in Singapore do a great mashed potato with gravy before they shut the machines off at night. Consumer electronics are regularly made available on pre-order to 7-11 customers in Taiwan, including the XBox 360 and the original iPod nano.



    2. Apple need some kind of flagship store in Taiwan. iPods are reasonably priced here, but for everything else I rather pay the US$180+ to fly to Hong Kong and shop. I'm undecided now between a top-of-the-range MacBook or 17" MacBook Pro; the former is US$120 more expensive in Taiwan, the latter is US$300 more expensive in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, one can often get free memory upgrades or AppleCare thrown in. I also wait for trips to Hong Kong to buy basics like external hard drives, scanners, printers, etc, because the models available in Taiwan are a year or two out of date. Taiwan company BenQ make outstanding large monitors, but they're not on sale to the locals. Apple monitors are charged 20% above Hong Kong prices here, althouth tax rate is just 5%: that's US$400 extra for the 30". Dell do have an online store which I guess is where I'll shop for a 24"+ monitor.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    Convenience stores in Japan do carry practically everything, including flash memory devices, headphones and iTMS gift cards. Yep.
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