First official Apple Store in Hong Kong will open Sept. 24
Apple's first retail store in Hong Kong is set to open later this month, inside the high-profile International Finance Center mall on September 24.
Banners advertising the forthcoming grand opening can now be seen at the retail center. They read "Apple Store, ifc mall. The new Center of Central."
In addition, Engadget Chinese (via Google Translate) was able to confirm that the store will open on September 24. Officially, Apple declined to confirm the date, noting they "don't have further information to share."
Hong Kong's International Finance Center is a waterfront commercial development in the city's Central District. The on-site mall is a four-story shopping center with more than 200 stores found within.
Construction on the store began in June, when the two-story storefront was covered and the mall promised a "new destination" would open in the fourth quarter of 2011. Reports suggested Apple planned to spend more than $20 million on construction alone.
The shop is expected to employ more than 300 employees who will serve an estimated 40,000 customers each day, which is more than four times the volume of an average U.S. Apple store.
Apple reportedly plans to followup the launch of its shop at the IFC Mall with a second Hong Kong location spanning an even greater 20,000 square feet at Hysan Place in Causeway Bay sometime in 2012.
The company's presence in Hong Kong could help to thwart a booming grey market for Apple devices. Devices like iPads and iPhones are frequently brought into the city and sold at higher prices as authorized resellers in Hong Kong run out of stock. Even Apple's retail stores themselves have been subject to elaborate counterfeits in China.
When it officially went on sale last month, Apple's new MacBook Air units drew long lines and were frequently out of stock in Hong Kong. Last quarter Apple saw its revenue in China grow six times to reach $3.8 billion, and executives have said they believe they are barely "scratching the surface" of the market in China.
Banners advertising the forthcoming grand opening can now be seen at the retail center. They read "Apple Store, ifc mall. The new Center of Central."
In addition, Engadget Chinese (via Google Translate) was able to confirm that the store will open on September 24. Officially, Apple declined to confirm the date, noting they "don't have further information to share."
Hong Kong's International Finance Center is a waterfront commercial development in the city's Central District. The on-site mall is a four-story shopping center with more than 200 stores found within.
Construction on the store began in June, when the two-story storefront was covered and the mall promised a "new destination" would open in the fourth quarter of 2011. Reports suggested Apple planned to spend more than $20 million on construction alone.
The shop is expected to employ more than 300 employees who will serve an estimated 40,000 customers each day, which is more than four times the volume of an average U.S. Apple store.
Apple reportedly plans to followup the launch of its shop at the IFC Mall with a second Hong Kong location spanning an even greater 20,000 square feet at Hysan Place in Causeway Bay sometime in 2012.
The company's presence in Hong Kong could help to thwart a booming grey market for Apple devices. Devices like iPads and iPhones are frequently brought into the city and sold at higher prices as authorized resellers in Hong Kong run out of stock. Even Apple's retail stores themselves have been subject to elaborate counterfeits in China.
When it officially went on sale last month, Apple's new MacBook Air units drew long lines and were frequently out of stock in Hong Kong. Last quarter Apple saw its revenue in China grow six times to reach $3.8 billion, and executives have said they believe they are barely "scratching the surface" of the market in China.
Comments
Damn that's huge. But why is the background red though? The usual black and white combo matched quite well together. Old Stevie's going to have a fit if he sees this.
Red is a symbolic and lucky color in traditional Chinese culture. probably why they used on the construction boards. Also both the the HK SAR & Chinese Flag is red.
"Red, corresponding with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Red is found everywhere during Chinese New Year and other holidays and family gatherings. A red envelope is a monetary gift which is given in Chinese society during holiday or special occasions. The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. Red is strictly forbidden at funerals as it is a traditionally symbolic color of happiness." Wiki
The shop is expected to employ more than 300 employees who will serve an estimated 40,000 customers each day, which is more than four times the volume of an average U.S. Apple store.
I can't fathom that the average apple store serves 10,000 customers per day. I'd believe... 500. This can't be right.
Damn that's huge..
what size is it?
I can't fathom that the average apple store serves 10,000 customers per day. I'd believe... 500. This can't be right.
Visitors I suspect, not paying customers. I believe the figure is correct, but one can see how you might think it was wrong. It's crazy. What's even crazier is when you find out the fifth Avenue store in NY makes over $1M per day.
Visitors I suspect, not paying customers. I believe the figure is correct, but one can see how you might think it was wrong. It's crazy. What's even crazier is when you find out the fifth Avenue store in NY makes over $1M per day.
Even if it was total visitors - say the stores are open 12 hours per day. 9-9. That's 3500 per hour. AVERAGE. 3500 per hour is 55 PER MINUTE.
There's just no way even the busiest store is welcoming one new customer PER SECOND, even on it's busiest day. Forget about average. The number is off by a factor of 10 at least.
Grossing 1MM per day only works out to 80K per hour, meaning that they sell a computer per minute or so. That I believe, for the busiest of busy locations full of high rollers who will walk in and buy two new laptops and a desktop in 15 minutes.
Edit: sorry that's why I shouldn't do math in my head. Still, 1 visitor every 4 seconds (instead of 1 second), average, across all US stores, is impossible.
The traffic figure is wrong though.
Apple has 243 retail stores in the USA. The last traffic figure I found was 71 million for Q1 2011. If you divide that evenly, it comes out to 3,200 visitors per day. So my conjecture was just about right on - 10,000 is 3 times too high.
1 visitor every 4 seconds (instead of 1 second), average, across all US stores, is impossible.
Seems consistent with what I've seen. Go to any good-sized Apple store and count how many people walk in during a 10 minute period. I'd be surprised if it's fewer than 100-200.
Seems consistent with what I've seen. Go to any good-sized Apple store and count how many people walk in during a 10 minute period. I'd be surprised if it's fewer than 100-200.
Read the next post of mine. 100-200 would imply 157-315 million visitors per quarter, while the real number is 75 million. Don't forget that your experience may not be consistent with average (and how many Apple stores have you monitored for 10 minutes straight?) Apple has 243 stores in the USA. Some are good sized, some are huge, some are smaller. All count toward the average.
I can't fathom that the average apple store serves 10,000 customers per day. I'd believe... 500. This can't be right.
Apple customers count as 10 regular customers. Hence the disparity.
This is a good move, but overdue. Apple urgently need to open a store in Singapore too, probably in Orchard Road.
Apple's Asian headquarters are located in Singapore. (US Guam has to order through Singapore.) Singapore is the shopping center for Southeast Asia. A store is long overdue.
Even if it was total visitors - say the stores are open 12 hours per day. 9-9. That's 3500 per hour. AVERAGE. 3500 per hour is 55 PER MINUTE.
There's just no way even the busiest store is welcoming one new customer PER SECOND, even on it's busiest day. Forget about average. The number is off by a factor of 10 at least.
Grossing 1MM per day only works out to 80K per hour, meaning that they sell a computer per minute or so. That I believe, for the busiest of busy locations full of high rollers who will walk in and buy two new laptops and a desktop in 15 minutes.
Edit: sorry that's why I shouldn't do math in my head. Still, 1 visitor every 4 seconds (instead of 1 second), average, across all US stores, is impossible.
The traffic figure is wrong though.
dude.. youre such a nerd. hahahaha. have you been out? people do walk in pairs or threes yea? so sometimes u get 2 or 3 in a second.
Why is this Apple Store so expensive??? According to 9to5mac this is the MOST expensive Apple Store in history.
real estate dude.
dude.. youre such a nerd. hahahaha. have you been out? people do walk in pairs or threes yea? so sometimes u get 2 or 3 in a second.
real estate dude.
Very wise. Welcome to the boards, hopefully you'll start to provide better comments soon.
what size is it?
Well according to Macrumors back in March, the new store in HK is approximately 15,000sq ft. in size, and the 2nd store opening next year in Causeway Bay is 20,000sq ft. Both are situated in what is deemed high-traffic areas.
Why is this Apple Store so expensive??? According to 9to5mac this is the MOST expensive Apple Store in history.
Well it is on prime real estate in HK. IFC is one of the newest and tallest towers in HK housing all the offices of many well-known firms and brands....so goodness knows what the rent is like there. But if Bloomberg is a good guide to average rental fees, it should work out something not far north of US$1.75M a month...
I mean according to Tech-Buzz.com it has been said they've spent nearly US$20M just refurbishing the place! Small change I guess when their revenue last year was something like US$3.8b in China alone....
Red is a symbolic and lucky color in traditional Chinese culture. probably why they used on the construction boards. Also both the the HK SAR & Chinese Flag is red.
"Red, corresponding with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Red is found everywhere during Chinese New Year and other holidays and family gatherings. A red envelope is a monetary gift which is given in Chinese society during holiday or special occasions. The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. Red is strictly forbidden at funerals as it is a traditionally symbolic color of happiness." Wiki
And Red goes back thousands of years before Communism, but a lot of people would lead you to believe otherwise.
Grossing 1MM per day only works out to 80K per hour.
It works out at about $46K per hour.
This is one 10,000 square foot computer store. That's not a big store. And they do that $46K per hour - for every hour of the year.
It has to be the most profitable 10,000 square foot consumer store, of any kind, on the planet. And that was 2010. God knows what 2011 or 2012 will look like.
Why is this Apple Store so expensive??? According to 9to5mac this is the MOST expensive Apple Store in history.
Architectural glass is one reason. You only have to look at the glass cube to see the costs associated with architectural glass. So far Apple's "cube project" has probably cost them around $10M. But you can afford to spend what you like when you're Apple and turning over over $1M per day in said store.
That $10M glass cube would likely pay for itself in less than 50 days. Hard to believe isn't it.