Roger Fingas
Apple is planning to launch its first outlet in Singapore in 2016, at the Knightsbridge luxury retail complex on Orchard Road, a report revealed on Monday.
A Pure Fitness will be closing on Dec. 15 to help make way, according to a pair of emails from the gym's management sent to customers, seen by The Straits Times. Some other Knightsbridge tenants will also be handing back space to the landlord, the gym noted.
"We understand that this is short notice but we have only recently been informed of the handover date on this site," one of the emails said.
It's not clear why Apple is only now getting around to building an Apple Store in Singapore, which is a wealthy market in spite of its small size. Indeed it was one of the first launch regions for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, joining places like the U.S. and just two other Asian markets — Hong Kong and Japan.
Real estate comes at a premium in Singapore however, and Apple is notoriously selective about the locations for its stores. In some cases the company will wait years for an ideal space to open.
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11 Comments
The worst possible location, the building is a major architectural mishap, like a black rock and ironically, the large video billboard on the corner shows Samsung ads ever since. I always considered it the perfect match of bad taste. [IMG]https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2sch!4v1445872039548!6m8!1m7!1ssyHD-dEccSXH_alK-PHJHA!2m2!1d1.302856454683359!2d103.8357509693674!3f68.01120079558831!4f12.668057396036318!5f0.7820865974627469" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen>[/IMG] The fitness chain is on the 3rd floor, and Abercrombie & Fitch might be happy to get out of the lease...
Because they were chased out of singapore and steve jobs was probably still salty. It is not something many people remember and you will probably find no written accounts of this. Beside, the local franchisee of apple has been doing a fantastic job, there was no pressing need for apple to personally handle the local market. This must be something Apple thought they could do because they had some spare change lying around.
Also, while i don't mind an official store, i much rather they bring to singapore stuff like beats1, Apple pay, etc. Actually not particularly hopeful with regards to apple pay reaching singapore.
I would disagree on being worst possible location as the location itself is rather good spot where some of the prestiges brands are nearby.
The architecture of the building may not be. But that is a good thing in the eyes of Apple. It sure opens up room to slash lease cost down, remodel it (not as if Apple is going to just use the space as is) and allow Apple to do what they are best at - "leave the world better than we found it" (Tim Cook).
Because they were chased out of singapore and steve jobs was probably still salty.
It is not something many people remember and you will probably find no written accounts of this.
Beside, the local franchisee of apple has been doing a fantastic job, there was no pressing need for apple to personally handle the local market.
This must be something Apple thought they could do because they had some spare change lying around.
I disagree. Customer services by the authorized resellers are expensive, and they don't carry new SKUs early enough (to reduce risk). They have to make enough money to pay for expensive retail space rent in Singapore.
e.g., Instead of recommending my friend a cheaper option (Just buy a new Mac), a reseller quoted him almost double the price for replacing all the parts in an older Mac.
The various classes, and Genius Bar in the real Apple Store will also be helpful for the non-tech savvy.
The resellers can focus on enterprises since the IT department should be more savvy, and will reject any silly attempt to take advantage of them flat out.