Apple threw open the doors to its first store in Hong Kong yesterday, its latest push to tap the booming China market, as protesters accused the technology giant of supporting sweatshop labor.
The minimalist store spread over two floors in one of Hong Kong’s most upmarket shopping malls is Apple’s sixth outlet in China, launching just a day after the doors opened on another new branch in Shanghai.
Apple’s second-quarter revenue in Greater China — which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong — reached US$3.8 billion, a six-fold rise on the same period a year earlier, making the region a key driver of the company’s record results.
Photo: EPA
Die-hard fans in China, which has the world’s largest online population with 485 million users, have been known to line up for days to get their hands on the latest Apple products.
A queue of more than 1,000 people snaked along an overpass near Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, with some people waiting since Friday to be among the first inside yesterday.
Employees handed out free T-shirts, chanted “Apple, Apple” and high-fived shoppers as they made their way up a spiral staircase set against a window showcasing the city’s skyline.
“We’ve waited a long time for Apple to come to Hong Kong,” postal worker Tony Cho, 24, said as he checked out a sleek MacBook Air laptop. “It’s a very exciting atmosphere.”
Previously, Apple products were available in Hong Kong through registered dealers and online, but the opening yesterday marked the first branded Apple store in the territory.
Some dropped by the mall just to take a picture of the chaotic event, but Trish Peck was among those who waited eagerly to take a peek inside the shopping-mad city’s newest retail phenomenon.
“Hong Kong really knows how to tap the consumer slant,” she said.
“We haven’t quite hit the China consumer level yet. For us, it’s about education [for the children] ... but there is a certain cachet with the brand,” she said.
About 20 activists from the group Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior protested outside the store, chanting and holdings placards that read “No more iSlave” and “Apple is a sweatshop.”
Security staff prevented activists from hanging a protest banner on the overpass where shoppers were queuing, a spokeswoman for the demonstrators said.
The group took aim at the California-based firm over one of its key suppliers, Taiwan’s Foxconn, which is the world’s largest maker of computer components and assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia. Labor rights activists have heaped criticism on Foxconn after more than a dozen employees died in apparent suicides at its plants last year, which critics blamed on tough working conditions.
An Apple spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.
China’s craze for all things Apple has led to widespread cloning of iPhones and iPads, and in July an American blogger uncovered fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming.
The shop was so convincing even the staff — who wore Apple’s trademark blue T-shirts with name badges around their necks — thought they worked for the company.
Two other rip-off Apple shops were nearby, one of them sporting a sign reading “Apple Stoer.”
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
RSS