Dubai Apple Store opening pushed back to at least October, report claims

How can a never-announced opening be delayed? Because somebody speculated and picked an earlier date from their arse? Unbelievable

[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/187814/dubai-apple-store-opening-pushed-back-to-at-least-october-report-claims#post_2764114"]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.[/QUOTE] 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. [QUOTE] 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.[/quote] 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?

[quote name="NasserAE" url="/t/187814/dubai-apple-store-opening-pushed-back-to-at-least-october-report-claims#post_2764156"] 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 [URL=http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=61145690]http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=61145690[/URL] [S]I am not sure is Microsoft Gulf FZ LLC is fully owned by Microsoft or not. I couldn't find more info about it.[/S] 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. [/quote] Using that info I was able to locate the following site. [LIST][*] http://eservices.dubaitrade.ae/clientdirectory/clientsSearch.do [/LIST] When I input Apple I get [B]Apple M E FZCO[/B] 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. [LIST][*] http://www.apple.com/ae/contact/ [/LIST] 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).