Saudi Arabia swooning over Apple, first Apple Store in the country might open in 2019
According to Reuters, Apple might finally open up an Apple Store in Saudi Arabia in 2019 following a government agreement expected to be signed sometime in February 2018. Surprisingly, the initiative is on Saudi Arabia's part which has been making it next for impossible for tech companies and Apple in particular to do business locally for years due to multiple hurdles imposed by the conservative muslim kingdom, which also happens to be one of the richest countries in the world thanks to its vast oil reserves.
However, it's in Saudi Arabia's interest to develop high-tech business locally due to the crumbling prices of crude oil. Also, the country's young leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seems poised to encourage the development of technology business locally. Apart from Apple, Amazon is also reportedly being courted by Saudi Arabia.
Aside from slowly but steadily cracking down the defenses of Saudi Arabia, Apple is also opening its first Apple Store in South Korea later this week, bringing the fierce rivalry to a new level in Samsung's home ground.
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