Apple expects to find more store shelves to fill with Macs following the thinning of the PC retailing business if and when Hewlett-Packard and Compaq complete their merger, according to a Manila Bulletin article.
The Manila Bulletin is the nation’s leading newspaper. Apple “ambitiously intends to fill the vacuum that will be left from the HP-Compaq merger,” the story says.
In an exclusive interview, Apple Philippines country manager Charlie Tang seemed confident the impending disappearance of a well-known PC brand will help elevate Apple’s products among consumers, reporter Patti Nisperos wrote. However, he refused to disclose by how much Apple’s current Mac user base would magnify locally and worldwide.
“The HP surviving entity will result in one less product to contend with,” adding the recent development involving HP and Compaq is an “opportunity to be a major choice among new Mac users,” Tang is quoted as saying. He claims more consumers purchasing new equipment will make Apple their “first choice.”
The manager also told the “Manila Bulletin” that Filipinos are increasingly obtaining their Macs in Manila when they used to procure them in the US. He told Nisperos that since last month, Apple Philippines has been selling lots of iMacs. What’s more, Tang hopes that a local Apple store will be built and set up for operation by next year. However, he admitted that the cost was high for acquiring prime space for a store within the Makati central business district and mall areas. But, according to Nisperos, Tang hinted of the possibility of unnamed Apple distributors and resellers gathering to jointly operate one. It was unclear where in Makati City the first Philippine Apple store will be housed.