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Apple prepares to enter Saudi Arabia

by on28 December 2017


Fundamentalist religious cult with too much money enters Saudi Arabia

Apple is in licensing discussions with Riyadh on investing in Saudi Arabia and turning the region into a Mecca for Apple goods.

Apparently, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to give the conservative kingdom a high-tech look, although we are not sure why he picked Apple for that task.  King Salman is a big Apple fanboy, although we suspect he does not have to queue to get the latest gear.

Saudi Arabia already knows a lot about smartphones and has some of the highest internet and smartphone use in the world. About 70 percent of the Saudi population is under 30 and frequently glued to social media. Apple is already the number two smartphone seller in the country behind Samsung.

Apple is in talks with SAGIA, Saudi Arabia’s foreign investment authority. Apple sells products in Saudi Arabia but via third parties and has formally not set up shop in the country.

Riyadh has been easing regulatory impediments for the past two years, including limits on foreign ownership which had long kept investors away, since falling crude prices highlighted the need to diversify its oil-dependent economy.  It is not clear how far they will go.  Apple is a company run by a homosexual, something that many among Saudi Arabia's religious nutters might find completely offensive, even if that has not stopped young people owning Apple gear.

A licensing agreement for Apple stores with SAGIA is expected by February, with an initial retail store targeted for 2019, said two sources familiar with the discussions.

Apple has been on a Saudi priority list of foreign firms which officials hope to attract to further their reforms, one of the sources said.

“Many tech multinationals now in Saudi Arabia are either vendors to the Saudi government or, in the case of Uber, have benefited from a sizable Saudi investment”, said Sam Blatteis, who heads Dubai-based tech advisory MENA Catalysts.

Last modified on 28 December 2017
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