Will Apple ever set up in Dublin?

bb1234567

They have been talking about it for a long time, and has there been any news about it? they said possibly in old dunnes shop or the old habitat store:rolleyes: but they rejected for some reson....they seem to be so picky about where they position their stores :rolleyes: yeah well anyway other stores took up the offers and im pretty sure disney is now in old dunnes nd abercrombie is now in the old habitat building . S where do you think they will set up? and when? i think that if they did they would set up in Dundrum town centre or Grafton street- or somewhere else posh what do you think?:)

Donkey Oaty

Hello, I'm the PC brigade.

investment

There is an apple shop in donnybrook

mikemac

There see Ireland as one market. They have a store in Belfast

Alter-Ego

Yes! Another shop with a small selection of products at extortionate prices.

dr.bollocko

Moved from After hours.

Buceph

Edited out my post. It was intended for when the thread was in After Hours, not over here.

RichieC

I love their stores, they're like snobby art exhibitions with a twat hipster know it all even there to guide you through the exhibit.

stovelid

Lord no - there are enough twat-magnet locations in Dublin already.

Willbbz

Go to Compu b OP

It's the same thing really

Paparazzo

If they do, I hope it has a Genius Bar

omg a kitty

What are youse talking about?? We got plenty of Apple Stores in Dublin! Theyre called grocery stores

Now, seriously
Either somewhere beside the Liffey or the Canals in town or a significant street: Grafton St, O'Connell street etc.
Just a guess:p

damselnat

The biggest problem of not having an Apple store is not having a Genius bar. Recently mine went loco on me and I had to bring it to where I bought it in Galway to get it fixed. A shop in Dublin with a genius bar would have been ffaaaaaarr more useful.
On the art exhibition theme, I was in NY recently and they have a very cool store outside FAO Schwartz that was full of people literally treating it like a tourist attraction, just going in for a look and all having their photos taking outside it

Paparazzo

Having your photo taken outside a PC shop is possible the saddest thing you can do

bb1234567

anyway back to the point does anyone know anything or new about apple setting up in dublin...itd be so cool if it set up in dundrum

Wibbs

The compu b shop at the bottom of Grafton street is it pretty much. I get the distinct impression it was nearly going to be an official one, but Apple got cold feet. I really doubt they'll bother now, not with the whole credit crunch blah blah. The market is very small too.

sdanseo

CompuB beat them to it. Much less of a reason for Apple to set up here now that there's an established chain of dedicated resellers.

And to be honest, I prefer it that way. A homegrown company with more money going back into the Irish economy than lining Steve Jobs' pockets. CompuB/whoever their accessory supplier is do need to lower their prices though - the cheapest iPhone 3G(S) (bear in mind, an 18 month old piece of kit) case last time I was there was €29.95 and they went all the way up to >€50. That's as much as a basic phone these days.

Cool Mo D

If Apple set up shop in Dublin, CompuB would find themselves very quickly out of business. It happened to many independent Apple retailers in the States.

Apple will probably set up in Dublin, but are likely waiting a while to get their preferred location: it will almost certainly be on Grafton street.

The reason they opened in Belfast is likely because they already have plenty of UK stores, so it is little effort to open another. Doing all the work to establish an irish retail arm makes it a little more difficult.

Wibbs

Mr.S wrote: »

I doubt shops such as CompuB are stopping Apple from setting up shop, they are nothing compared to a real Apple store :eek:

Like I said I reckon that was going to be the Dublin apple store, but something got in the way. http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jun/07/apple-seeks-a-slice-of-dublin-pie/

Then Compu B open up in the same area? http://www.macinformation.com/files/compub-dublin-opening.php In a small Apple business community and Apple/CompuB didn't know about each others plans? Nope, don't buy it. Even their printed banners etc were official Apple store banners with the apple store bit cut off. IMHO it's an Apple store albeit a slightly "cut price"(Apple store prices though) one. Maybe the recession caused cold feet?

They have one in Belfast because the Apple retailer number was very low almost non existent up there before they opened. Now Apple have historically played fast and loose with even very long term dealers, but I'd be shocked if they tried to open a store on Grafton street say in direct competition with CompuB. More to the point I doubt the latter would have ploughed that kinda effort, time and cash into an expensive shop like that if they thought Apple would just open up an actual official store up the street. Their business would be screwed. Even if there was an official store somewhere like Dundrum, the CompuB lads would be hit.

sdonn wrote:

A homegrown company with more money going back into the Irish economy than lining Steve Jobs' pockets.

TBH sdonn I can't see it making much of a difference. The "Official" stores are usually run by a local established dealer anyway(Hence another reason to believe compuB was going to be one) so it's really just the name above the door. Stevie baby gets the same either way.

All conjecture mind.

CompuB/whoever their accessory supplier is do need to lower their prices though - the cheapest iPhone 3G(S) (bear in mind, an 18 month old piece of kit) case last time I was there was €29.95 and they went all the way up to >€50. That's as much as a basic phone these days.

Apple store prices too. An official shop wouldn't be any lower outside the odd promotion. Personally I'd rarely go the official route buying accessories. You'll end up paying more. Apple may be a bit mad on pricing, but their accessory suppliers seem to add 10% to whatever they'd charge for PC users.

donaghs

Would love to know why people want an Apple store. As mentioned earlier you can already buy their products in Ireland.

Was speaking with some people from various phone networks recently, and think its amazing that they can launch a "phone" like the iPhone 4, and still have issues with the most basic functionality - i.e. phone calls!

http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/apple-lsquoknew-about-iphone-4-antenna-problemsrsquo-2261868.html

All the networks ended up adopting the device as they would have lost customers who wanted the device regardless of how it performed.

omg a kitty

donaghs wrote: »

Would love to know why people want an Apple store.

It's the Genius Bar I want