Hard to believe, right? I’d never been to an Apple store before in my life. Chinese people that hear this look at me in astonishment. Many of them tend to believe that Apple stores are like Starbucks. There’s one on every corner. But, my wife’s birthday is coming up on the 15th so I decided we’d take the train over to Hong Kong and pick up some of the new iPads, my opinion on it is coming up soon, and the place was really bizarre.
First of all, the store was located in the International Finance Center, the biggest skyscraper in Hong Kong and it was jam packed. There had to be at least 300-400 people browsing around with about 200 employees. Most of the shoppers weren’t potential buyers though. They just wanted to play on the shiny new computers. But we knew what we wanted so we marched in and told one of the sales people what we wanted.
“Hey, I’m looking for the 64GB iPad 3.”
“You mean the new iPad?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Ok. Have you ever been to an Apple store before?”
“Umm…No.”
“Really!? Congratulations!” She grabbed my hand and shook it fiercely.
I had read an article on Business Insider about how the employees get indoctrinated and that whole handshake bit was really strange to me. It’s a computer store. That’s it. Don’t be so proud. Meh. Anyway, It ended up costing just over 11,000 HKD. Or 9,000 RMB. Or 1,440USD!!!!!!!!!! Now I have to start saving my money again. Urrrrgggg…
One more thing. Never buy your accessories from Apple. They overcharge like a mofo. I bought a case at a small retailer in Guangzhou for 70RMB that Apple tried to sell for 300 in HK. Always get it from small shops. Yeah, it might be fake. But chances are, it does the same thing.
I can relate to that, I haven’t either, nor do I have much wish to. Ca’t say I’m surprised on the accessories, either.
By: neenergyobserver on July 6, 2012
at 10:53 am
Nothing surprising about it. Everyone breaking their necks to get the latest gadgets. And the employees have a thinly veiled sense of superiority because they have a little apple sewn onto their shirts.
By: beaufortninja on July 7, 2012
at 12:11 am
I like the Apple stores back in the states better. I’ve never been to a Chinese Apple store that wasn’t completely packed.
By: roomaomao on July 9, 2012
at 11:48 pm
Apple is a huge status symbol here so the new stuff is always in high demand. The Apple store was super crowded, even by China standards. It’s crazy!
By: beaufortninja on July 19, 2012
at 11:34 am
I’ve been rocking out with apple computers for the last ten years before it was cool to have one. Now I go to a coffee shop in Shanghai and someone at each of the 4 tables next to mine has a macbook pro. Crazy.
By: roomaomao on July 19, 2012
at 11:59 pm
“One more thing. Never buy your accessories from Apple. They overcharge like a mofo.”
No sh**t! Learned this recently when had to buy a new power cord for my MacBook – nearly $90 freakin’ dollars! And they’re notoriously defective, lasting only a couple of years, if that. Maddening!
By: Sylver Blaque on July 15, 2012
at 7:43 pm
I always hear about how Apple stuff is short lived. But I’ve had the same iPod video for over 7 years. Granted, I’ve had to baby it a lot but us ninjas are good at making things last.
By: beaufortninja on July 19, 2012
at 11:37 am
Recently replaced my Dell laptop with another Dell – reconditioned, from Dell. I wish I’d made the switch – shudda sprung for the extra bucks and gotten a Mac. Nuff said!
By: Moe on July 16, 2012
at 12:37 pm
I usually think Macs are overrated but I’ve been pretty satisfied with the iPad. If you can afford it then give it a shot.
By: beaufortninja on July 19, 2012
at 11:40 am