Apple today officially revealed that its new Causeway Bay retail store at Hysan Place will open this Saturday, becoming the company's third store in Hong Kong. The new store is a massive flagship location, as evidenced by the company's use of "curtain" graphics on the facade as is typically reserved for Apple's most significant openings.
Panorama of Causeway Bay facade with "curtain" graphics (Thanks, Anson!)
Click for larger
The new store will cover three levels and has been reported to encompass approximately 20,000 square feet of space, with the facade including 30-foot tall glass windows currently covered by the curtain graphics. Playing upon the large facade, Apple's tagline for the premiere is "An opening you simply can't miss."
The new Causeway Bay store is not the only location seeing a grand opening next weekend, as the MixC Chengdu store in Chengdu, China will also be opening on Saturday, December 15. Like the Causeway Bay store, the Chengdu store had previously been profiled as part of Apple's major retail store push into its Greater China market.
Apple is also opening its new Fountain Gate store near Melbourne, Australia on Saturday and will be Apple's fourth location in the state of Victoria.
Update: Apple will also be opening its Emporia store in Malmö, Sweden on Saturday, becoming the company's second store in the country exactly three months after the Täby Centrum store outside of Stockholm debuted.
Top Rated Comments
Why? Hong Kong Island is ONLY 26 miles away from the Foxconn plant in Shenzhen that assembles and packages Apple products.
So instead of shipping their products, say, 7,000 miles from Shenzhen, China to the western border of the US, with the shipping cost BUILT INTO the retail prices of their products, Apple just needs to send their products in a TRUCK for less than the hour commute between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
AND ironically Apple products are MORE EXPENSIVE in Hong Kong than in the US, even further BOOSTING Apple's profit margin beyond just keeping what it saves on shipping.
And given that there is NO SALES TAX in Hong Kong, Apple doesn't have to ADJUST its retail prices in Hong Kong to accommodate sales taxes like it does in mainland China, so its profit margins are higher in Hong Kong than ANY OTHER major Chinese city.
And given Hong Kong shares a border with Shenzhen, there's less costs for Apple shipping to Hong Kong than to even mainland Chinese cities Shanghai or Beijing.
So for all the people complaining that Apple is screwing them with their high prices for Chinese made goods, just take note of the fact that Apple is SCREWING THE CHINESE even more!
Apple products are actually cheaper here than they are in the USA, check their website if you don't believe me.
What are you talking about???
http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone5
iPhone 5 16GB - HK$5,588
According to TODAY'S conversion rate on XE, is USD$729.03.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=5588&From=HKD&To=USD
The announced price in the US is USD$649. How is the Hong Kong price NOT more expensive than in the US???
The iPad Mini 16GB is HK$2,588.
http://store.apple.com/hk/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad_mini
That coverts to USD$333.93 using today's exchange rate on XE.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=+2588&From=HKD&To=USD
In the US it's USD$329. How is it again that "Apple products are actually cheaper [in Hong Kong] than they are in the USA"?
The iPad 4? It's HK$3,888 for the 16GB model.
http://store.apple.com/hk/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad
According to XE, that's the equivalent to USD$501.67.
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=3888&From=HKD&To=USD
In the US? USD$499.
So you're WRONG on EVERY count, and NO, I certainly DON'T BELIEVE YOU and I suggest YOU "check their website".
It makes SENSE that Apple is making such a HUGE push opening so many stores in ONE CITY given that Hong Kong offers Apple its HIGHEST PROFIT MARGINS in the world.
I hate this Apple policy. Greedy outside the USA! :mad:Why? Hong Kong Island is ONLY 26 miles away from the Foxconn plant in Shenzhen that assembles and packages Apple products.
So instead of shipping their products, say, 7,000 miles from Shenzhen, China to the western border of the US, with the shipping cost BUILT INTO the retail prices of their products, Apple just needs to send their products in a TRUCK for less than the hour commute between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
AND ironically Apple products are MORE EXPENSIVE in Hong Kong than in the US, even further BOOSTING Apple's profit margin beyond just keeping what it saves on shipping.
And given that there is NO SALES TAX in Hong Kong, Apple doesn't have to ADJUST its retail prices in Hong Kong to accommodate sales taxes like it does in mainland China, so its profit margins are higher in Hong Kong than ANY OTHER major Chinese city.
And given Hong Kong shares a border with Shenzhen, there's less costs for Apple shipping to Hong Kong than to even mainland Chinese cities Shanghai or Beijing.
So for all the people complaining that Apple is screwing them with their high prices for Chinese made goods, just take note of the fact that Apple is SCREWING THE CHINESE even more!
HK apple products are cheapest in the world. did you even do any research before making outlandish comments?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! "HK apple products are cheapest in the world""??? You are CLUELESS. Read my previous post with LINKS completely disproving your "outlandish comment".
YOU are the one that should do some "research" before completely EMBARRASSING yourself!
... sales tax is added before the price is advertised, unlike in america (where the consumer sees it).
WRONG AGAIN! There is NO SALES TAX in Hong Kong other than on alcohol and cigarettes.
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/nz/plan-your-trip/know-hong-kong/frequently-asked-questions.jsp
Seriously, do some fact-checking before making yourself look like a TOTAL JOKE! :D
errr, have you any idea how hostile it is between China and Hong Kong?.....
:D:D:D:D
Are you SERIOUS???? Hong Kong is a PART OF CHINA!!!! Wow. The ignorance on this thread (and by extension this ENTIRE BOARD) is ASTOUNDING. You TRULY are an embarrassment to us Apple users.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
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Don't use CAPITAL LETTERS so much, it looks REALLY LAME!!!!111!!
Not as LAME as not knowing how to USE the SHIFT KEY. What on earth is "!!!!111!!"? :rolleyes:
And why NINE "attempted" exclamation marks? That's way more LAME than using capitalization for EMPHASIS. :D
Wow, you are truly EMBARRASSING yourself even MORE.
Read the post above you or perhaps follow the thread a little more closely as your stolen "argument" (from "haruhiko") has already been DEBUNKED.
Plus who do you think you're FOOLING? You're trying to CHANGE your argument so to not look like such a fool and yet you actually are looking MORE like a fool by doing so.
This is EXACTLY what you wrote which I replied to:
Yes, I did EXACTLY that, showing you LINKS from the Apple WEBSITES (HK and US) which showed you were WRONG.
And not only did you NOT mention Hong Kong having no "sales tax" in your post (which is something I BROUGHT UP in my original post), but sales taxes are NOT listed on Apple's website either, which directly CONTRADICTS your "revised" argument.
Nice job buddy! :p
AND please tell me, in WHICH US state are the state AND local SALES TAXES COMBINED at least 12.3%?
Because that's the MINIMUM they would NEED to be for the unlocked iPhone 5 in the US being priced at USD$649 to be even the SAME price as it would be in Hong Kong, which is the equivalent of USD$729.03, much less be MORE EXPENSIVE like YOU CLAIM.
I tell you which US state has combined state and local sales taxes at 12.3% or higher - NO US STATE!
The HIGHEST applicable sales taxes in the US for the iPhone 5 would be in Illnois, which combined MAX state and local sales taxes would be 11.5%. Even with these sales taxes, buying the iPhone in the US would STILL be LESS EXPENSIVE than purchasing it in Hong Kong.
Now if one bought their iPhone 5 in New Hampshire, which has ZERO sales taxes for BOTH state AND local, then the iPhone 5 would cost USD$80 LESS than it would in Hong Kong!
Good one buddy! :D
So not ONLY did you try to CHANGE your "argument", but the "argument" you changed to is STILL WRONG!!! :rolleyes:
And despite all this, it STILL doesn't address the original point I was making, which is about Apple's PROFIT MARGIN in Hong Kong versus other countries including the US. Sales taxes DON'T FACTOR in Apple's profit margins because they go to their respective governments where the products were purchased, NOT Apple.
Capitalizing every other word does not make you look smarter.
AND ironically Apple products are MORE EXPENSIVE in Hong Kong than in the US, even further BOOSTING Apple's profit margin beyond just keeping what it saves on shipping.
Apple products are actually cheaper here than they are in the USA, check their website if you don't believe me.
HK apple products are cheapest in the world. did you even do any research before making outlandish comments?And given that there is NO SALES TAX in Hong Kong, Apple doesn't have to ADJUST its retail prices in Hong Kong to accommodate sales taxes like it does in mainland China, so its profit margins are higher in Hong Kong than ANY OTHER major Chinese city.
... sales tax is added before the price is advertised, unlike in america (where the consumer sees it).And given Hong Kong shares a border with Shenzhen, there's less costs for Apple shipping to Hong Kong than to even mainland Chinese cities Shanghai or Beijing.
errr, have you any idea how hostile it is between China and Hong Kong?.....