Money Matters, Simplified.
Apple to launch first store in Hong Kong this month
by Jamie Anderson - September 7, 2011 - comments
Apple is on track to opening its first tax-free store in Hong Kong, reportedly on September 24.
In a bid to cash in on the surging demand in China and its neighboring regions, Apple Inc. is all set to open its first store in Hong Kong on the 24th of this month.
The new store will be housed in the high-profile International Finance Center (IFC) mall, a waterfront commercial development in the city's Central District.
Ideal location
More than 200 stores are already located in this commercial complex which boasts of an 88-story office tower.
Locals are already looking forward to the grand opening as huge banners with the text ‘Apple Store, IFC mall. The new Center of Central’ have been put on the building.
Apple’s store opening "exemplifies the fact that foreign brands have bullish prospects on the retail market here," said Mariana Kou, a retail analyst with CLSA in Hong Kong.Sources familiar with the matter reveal that Apple has spent more than $20 million on construction of the new store that spans 20,000 square feet and two floors. Apple’s store opening "exemplifies the fact that foreign brands have bullish prospects on the retail market here," said Mariana Kou, a retail analyst with CLSA in Hong Kong. "All the top brands are" at the IFC, she said of the choice of location. The IFC shop will be Apple’s fifth store in the China region. Sales in this part of the world account for 11 percent of Apple’s total revenue. Big expansion plans In absolute terms, the Cupertino, California based behemoth garnered close to $8.8 billion in revenue in the past three quarters of the year. Apple’s new store will help the company rely less on resellers in the Chinese market. According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple intends to open two more stores in Hong Kong; one each in the Lee Gardens at Causeway Bay and in Tsim Sha Tsui’s Canton Road. However no details were divulged about these stores. The announcement of the IFC store was made by the then COO Tim Cook when he announced Apple's second quarter earnings. This store is part of Apple’s big expansion plans. The maker of the immensely popular iPhone plans to open 40 Apple Stores, 28 of which would be outside the United States.