Apple premium reseller to open outlet in Cork’s new retail district

By Brian O’Mahony

Monday, November 23, 2009

A NEW shop will be opened at 17 Opera Lane, the new retail district in the heart of Cork city next Saturday by the country’s only Apple premium reseller Compu b.

Resellers are iPod and Mac-dedicated retail outlets offering the Apple range to existing and new customers.

The new Compu b store will stock all Apple products and software including Macs, iPods and iPhones.

The aim is to offer consumers a top-class service from staff who are fully trained Apple experts.

The reseller store concept is new to Ireland with Cork, only the second in the country after Compu b’s Limerick store.

"We opened our first store in Limerick only last year, and the response has been incredible," said Denis O’Connell, the founder of Compu b.

"We hope our new store in the heart of the new Opera Lane district in Cork will prove equally as popular," he said.

Apple products command strong loyalty among users and the two Irish stores aim to identify the Apple product "most suited to each individual customers needs"

In its last quarter, Apple sold 3.05 million Macintosh computers worldwide during the quarter, a 17% unit increase over the same quarter last year.

It also sold 10.2 million iPods during the three months, an 8% decline from the year-ago quarter.

It sold 7.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing growth of 7% over the same period last year.

Commenting at the time, Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs said: "We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter.

"We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

Apple sparked a revolution in the personal computer market in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.

It continues to stay ahead in the sector with its award- winning computers including the OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications.

It is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has tackled the mobile phone market with the iPhone.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, November 23, 2009