Though iPhones, iPads, and Macs are in use throughout Eastern Europe, actual Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) retail locations have been very slow to take root in the formerly communist nations. This is slated to change in just a few days, when a brick and mortar location for the Cupertino company’s products will be opened on June 27th, 2014 in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, according to a report on Apple Insider.
Though there is no concrete information on why Apple Inc. (AAPL) has no branches in the FSU (Former Soviet Union), the unstable economies and semi-Soviet legal systems that persist in these regions are not welcoming to a business that bases its strategies on solidity and reliability. Faced with Byzantine import and taxation requirements, and unpredictably enforced local regulations – not to mention continuing widespread corruption – the Cupertino firm may prefer to avoid entangling itself in the area until local governments have become more transparent, laws have been reworked for greater rationality, and economies have grown more predictable.
Additionally, fear and hatred of the West in general and America in particular are still widespread in the former Soviet bloc, with bizarre conspiracy theories blaming practically everything that Russians don’t like – including the actions of the Russians themselves – on sinister plots from the United States. Apple, of course, is viewed as a quintessentially American company throughout the world, so it is perhaps only natural that it should have a hard time taking root in regions where knee-jerk loathing of the United States is the rule, not the exception.
A case in point is Russia’s banning of iPad use among its government employees, coupled with the adoption of Samsung devices in their place. This move was apparently prompted by fear of American spying following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which the Russian state media managed to twist into – naturally enough – yet another American plot. Of course, the Russian government failed to notice that South Korea, home of Samsung, is a longtime and very close United States ally – but conspiracy theories are about emotion, particularly fear, and not logic.
With these factors in mind, it is not surprising that the Czech Republic should be the first FSU country to host a brick and mortar Apple Store. Westward-looking and deeply distrustful of the Soviet past after Prague Spring and other instances of communist oppression, this highly advanced country is one of those to rebound most quickly from the harmful effects of Marxism after its famous Velvet Revolution in 1989.
A symbolic and material break with the past was highlighted with the 2011 payment of 100,000 Crowns to every anti-communist fighter who took part in casting off Russian domination. Rejecting the totalitarian, xenophobic past and looking towards a rational, enlightened future, it is appropriate that the Czech Republic should be the first Eastern European nation to welcome the global phenomenon of Apple Stores within its borders.
Letter of Comment