Apple Support

Oxter

I just updated the Apple Support app.

Now I can make an appointment at any official iOS repair Centre.
Only problem is there are none in this country.

I can also book an appointment in any Apple Genius Bar attached to Apple stores for smaller repairs such as battery or screen replacement.
Only problem is there are none in Ireland.


Apple have c. 6,000 employees here and do a lot of business from this country.

There are 40 Apple stores with Genius bars throughout the U.K. And even in Belfast.

The Genius Bar service cannot be accessed from the Irish Apple website but can from the Apple.co.uk site.

This reservation service has also been extended to Hongkong, Turkey, Macau, China and UAE

Why does Ireland not have an Applestore, Genius Bar and iOS repair Centre?

Sad Professor

They go country by country and haven't got to Ireland yet because it's a relatively small market. Apple products are already extremely popular here and an Irish store is unlikely to significantly grow their market share, so we're low priority for the time being. Apple are also very fussy about the locations of their flagship stores and will wait, years if necessary, until they find the right place.

Oxter

They have 40 U.K. stores including less than salubrious cities like Leeds, Liverpool, Rotherhithe etc.
And a load of official iOS repair Centre's.

A tourist visiting this country would expect to be able to get a replacement screen or other repairs done

Apple quite openly advertise a workforce of 6,000 here.
Not having an Apple Store raises questions as to Apple's commitment to remaining in Ireland, especially with Trump's quest to relocate American business back to the USA.

They could use the store to reduce their taxes even more.

godtabh

Oxter wrote: »

A tourist visiting this country would expect to be able to get a replacement screen or other repairs done.

I doubt it. If the things a tourist would want to do in Ireland that is probably one of the last things on the list to do.

Oxter

godtabh wrote: »

I doubt it. If the things a tourist would want to do in Ireland that is probably one of the last things on the list to do.

Phones get damaged on holidays and during muggings.

Only the Irish have to go abroad to get their iPhone's repaired.

Creamy Goodness

But Joe they don't pay their taxes. Won't somebody think of the children!

This topic has been done to death here with various speculative reasons as to why. No one really know why but Apple.

As much as I'd like one here I'm not holding my breath.

henryporter

Oxter wrote: »

I can also book an appointment in any Apple Genius Bar attached to Apple stores for smaller repairs such as battery or screen replacement.
Only problem is there are none in Ireland.

Why does Ireland not have an Applestore, Genius Bar and iOS repair Centre?

Is Belfast not in Ireland?

Creamy Goodness

henryporter wrote: »

Is Belfast not in Ireland?

No it's not. Let's not open that can of worms here.

Johnmb

Oxter wrote: »

Apple quite openly advertise a workforce of 6,000 here.
Not having an Apple Store raises questions as to Apple's commitment to remaining in Ireland, especially with Trump's quest to relocate American business back to the USA.

Apple didn't have an Apple Store here for many years before Trump's election, so it says nothing about their commitment to Ireland. They run international online sales through Ireland, which are much larger than any (or even all) Apple stores.

They could use the store to reduce their taxes even more.

Not sure how you think they could do this, unless you expect the store to make losses. If Apple think the store will make losses (or even just won't make amazing profits), they won't open it here. They have other methods of lowering their tax bills without ruining their margins, and their margins are extremely important for the quarterly financials.

Sad Professor

Oxter wrote: »

Phones get damaged on holidays and during muggings.

Only the Irish have to go abroad to get their iPhone's repaired.

You don't have to go abroad. Apple offer send-in repairs. The turnaround time varies, but one user here got their phone back within 48 hours, though a week is more typical. And if you don't want the inconvenience of waiting around for UPS, you can drop it into an AASP such as Compub and they'll send it away for you.

An Apple Store would be better obviously. Or if Apple allowed Compub etc to do the repairs themselves.

Heisenberg1

Sad Professor wrote: »

They go country by country and haven't got to Ireland yet because it's a relatively small market. Apple products are already extremely popular here and an Irish store is unlikely to significantly grow their market share, so we're low priority for the time being. Apple are also very fussy about the locations of their flagship stores and will wait, years if necessary, until they find the right place.

If that where true why would they open a Belfast store the market in NI is significantly smaller than that of the ROI so that reason makes no sense. Clearys is perfect location for a flagship store for them.

Sad Professor

Heisenberg1 wrote: »

If that where true why would they open a Belfast store the market in NI is significantly smaller than that of the ROI so that reason makes no sense. Clearys is perfect location for a flagship store for them.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK market.

Re: location, I can't imagine them settling for anywhere outside the Grafton Street area.

murpho999

Oxter wrote: »

Phones get damaged on holidays and during muggings.

Only the Irish have to go abroad to get their iPhone's repaired.

A tad dramatic there.

Also you don't have to go abroad just send your phone to Apple.

We're not the only country with the same situation, look at how few countries they have stores in.

murpho999

Sad Professor wrote: »

Northern Ireland is part of the UK market.

Re: location, I can't imagine them settling for anywhere outside the Grafton Street area.

Dundrum Town Centre, IFSC, numerous shopping centres.

O'Connell Street would be good too, would lift the street. They could go into the new venture planned for Cleary's.

Also, I have seen some of their other stores and they are not always in exclusive or large locations.

Last one I saw was in Haarlem in The Netherlands and it's a very small store on a normal shopping street.

Sad Professor

murpho999 wrote: »

Dundrum Town Centre, IFSC, numerous shopping centres.

O'Connell Street would be good too, would lift the street. They could go into the new venture planned for Cleary's.

Also, I have seen some of their other stores and they are not always in exclusive or large locations.

Last one I saw was in Haarlem in The Netherlands and it's a very small store on a normal shopping street.

Sure, but not for their flagship store. They will want the best and most expensive location. And they aren't going to start by sticking a store into a shopping centre unit somewhere. If they were going to do that they would have done it already.

Apple's first store in the Netherlands was in Amsterdam. It looks like this:



At one point it was their largest store in the world. The other smaller Dutch stores followed.

Heisenberg1

Sad Professor wrote: »

Northern Ireland is part of the UK market.

Re: location, I can't imagine them settling for anywhere outside the Grafton Street area.

Yes I'm aware of that my point is that store services it's catchment area any one from the mainland would just use their own store.

Sad Professor

Heisenberg1 wrote: »

Yes I'm aware of that my point is that store services it's catchment area any one from the mainland would just use their own store.

Yeah I understand your point, it's the same one made every time this issue come up - why Belfast and not Dublin? - but as I said earlier in the thread Apple go country by country. They establish an infrastructure, open a flagship store, and smaller stores quickly follow. It doesn't really make sense to me either but that's how they do it.

bee06

Oxter wrote: »

Apple quite openly advertise a workforce of 6,000 here.
Not having an Apple Store raises questions as to Apple's commitment to remaining in Ireland, especially with Trump's quest to relocate American business back to the USA.

They could use the store to reduce their taxes even more.

Do you really think one store would show more commitment to remaining in Ireland than the extremely large Cork office which is constantly being upgraded and expanded?

Oxter

There is no iOS repair Centre in Ireland.
This means that any iPhone opened in this country is no longer under warranty.

This is farcical.

An official AppleStore with Genius Bar in each university town would be a lot more useful than a fancy office in Cork that customers are not allowed to enter.

Does this mean there are no Apple certified iphone technicians here?

Apple Values for customers in Ireland?