Finally,
Apple opened an official store in Singapore last week. Predictably
along Orchard Road. Thousands arrived on opening day to pay homage to
the brand, had multiple more Instagram and Snapchat shots taken,
probably not buy anything, and left.
Is
the store going to bring an injection of buzz to unabashedly
boring shopping street? Maybe, likely not. Why? Apple used to be APPLE
and now it's just apple. Half the country has iPhones and the other half
are watching movies on their iPads. I've got a MacBook. The problem
with ubiquity is that it kills novelty. Hermes Birkin bags go for a
truckload of cash because there are so few of them. It's probably not
Apple's dream to not be mass market but clearly they've got to keep
their innovation pipeline bursting at the rivets to keep our short
attention spans clued into their latest gizmos. And that's hard to do.
$100 Japanese fruit of the same moniker would get more buzz.
So
who's at the store buying up stuff? Tourists. Likely Indonesian and
Chinese. Our affluent neighbours to the south have about 50 flights a
day between Jakarta and this little red dot to choose from, and
shopping, concerts and quick getaways have become mere day trips. There are too
many Chinese mainlanders who want to get their hands on the latest gizmos to resell
back home. It's just a weird consequence of too much demand for the
coolest toys among a population of 1+ billion, all trying to be cool. Even those barely getting by seem to want to show off - a
new phone, a real Apple, not a China made rip-off - regardless how broke they become. What's
even more awesome for our tourists is the GST rebate they get back at
the airport. No lucky 7% for the locals.
My
gripe is the missed opportunity for Apple and our gahmen to do
something great together, for the big Singapore picture. Imagine if the gahmen gave Apple a nice plot
of land to build a magnificent glass house that would glitter and be
resplendent enough to mesmerise those drawn to things bright and shiny.
To build a standout. With a clever twist - place where no one would
expect it to be. Not antiquated Orchard Road but somewhere where more
attention is due, somewhere the gahmen wants people to look at and also
be drawn to. Say Jurong East, the second CBD. Shocking at first thought I
believe. Incredulous even. Not in Apple's image you might think. My
take is Apple hasn't done much lately to stun anyone. Apple used to be
APPLE because not many people had the shiny fruit. Definitely the folks
strutting up and down Orchard Road would be too familiar with and blasé about
the brand. But perhaps the folks in the boondocks or more politely, the
heartlands, would appreciate a slice of the Apple pie in their neck of
the woods. An Apple cube in Jurong or Woodlands or Tampines would
attract the attention. MNCs and even luxury brands which may
want to follow suit and stake some ground to roll in the average Joe's
dough. A wasted opportunity to stir up much needed noise. A store up
north would have attracted rich Johoreans to come spend their ringgit
here too and scuttle back across all before lunchtime.
Unless
rents come down, I don't think the Apple Store at Knightsbridge is
going to last 5 years I fear. Singaporeans are going to get their devices
online or from their package deal peddling telcos. And tourists won't be
enough to keep the coffers plump. Let's see.
