It’s no secret that Apple is looking to reinvigorate business in the Far East and a swish new Apple Store outlet in one of the region’s most iconic cities isn’t a bad way to go about it.
The new Taipei Apple Store is one of the most attractive we’ve seen yet and it kinda makes us want to plan a trip to Taiwan. Located in the city’s Xinyi district, the A13 store features a two-story, free-standing pavilion design with a carbon fibre reinforced roof.
There’s a floor-to-ceiling glass facade and a pair of stone pillars at either end. The two marble composite staircases will enable customers to travel between the store level and the basement area, where workshops are planned. There’s also an outdoor Genius Grove where customers can get personalised technical support from Apple’s army of in-store Genuises.
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Beyond the design, it’s also a landmark Apple store opening for Taiwanese fans of the world’s biggest tech company. The store brings artist-led Today At Apple sessions which it says brings “world-class creators, including local artists based in Taiwan.” That kicks off with a six-week Stage for Creativity series which starts on opening day.
These will take place in the store’s underground forum space, which has a video wall, and will also include sessions on art and design, photography, video, music, coding, and app development.
There’s going to be 155 team members at the Xinyi A13 store, speaking more than ten languages. The store opens at 10am on Saturday 14th June, if you’re a local, or interesting in jumping on a plane to get in on the act.
Although Taiwan is not a part of China (although the Chinese might argue otherwise), Apple has suffered an overall downturn in fortunes in the region over the last couple of years. iPhone sales drop-offs are outpacing other territories and were down 20% in the last quarter. Can retail location expansion be the answer? Well, they say getting ’em through the door is half the battle.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.