Apple to open retail stores in Taiwan
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).
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.