Author: p6admin

Apple Store Hong Kong would show how retail should be done to those who think they are shopping kings.

[/caption] “Shopping is the National Sport” of Hong Kong, so the joke often goes. But after purchasing items in Hong Kong and the US, you have to ask if this is the national sport, why is it done so badly here in Hong Kong? The actual process of purchasing an item, say an iPod, here in Hong Kong is an exercise in silliness and bureaucracy, and most important, a total waste of time.  Sliding into a large retailer like a Fortress or a Broadway (think Best Buy) will require some of the following steps:

  • Ask to buy an iPod
  • iPod is taken from the shelf to a counter space near cashier.
  • Person fills out, by hand, a large 8×10 inch piece of paper saying you are buying an iPod.
  • Clerk asks if you want to open box to see if it works (?)
  • You sign this paper twice.
  • You hand over payment.
  • Payment is taken by salesman and given to a cashier in a back room.
  • Credit card receipt is prepared, which you also sign.
  • Big piece of paper, credit card receipt, and credit card are all handed back to you with a bag carrying your item.
  • You separate card into your wallet and fold mis-sized receipt into pocket.
What a pain in the ass.  It takes nearly 2-3 minutes to buy something and in the end you have two receipts (usually neither of which you can use for a return anyway) and it’s all in your hand, requiring you to fold or throw in the bag (after you take out your card).  For a country that prides itself on shopping, this smacks of buying something at a country market in rural England in the Victorian era. Now compare this to an iPod purchase in an Apple Store in the USA.
  • Ask for an iPod
  • iPod is taken off the shelf.
  • Clerk scans iPod barcode with handheld scanner at your location.
  • You hand clerk credit card.
  • He asks if you want email receipt (you say yes)
  • He gives you iPod and you leave store.
Total time, about 30 seconds.  You don’t move.  It’s all done right where you are and you are out the door.  The receipt usually hits your email before you even exit the store. So I sit and wait and pray that Apple opens a formal store in Hong Kong, not necessarily because I need more access to the products, but because I don’t want to go through the Faulty Towers process of purchasing something.  I just want it NOW so I can get on with my life. End of rant.]]>

Hillary Clinton's mercenary troops set for action in Iraq

[/caption] Ok, so that’s a bit of a scare headline, but I was struck by this story in the New York Times for two reasons.  First, it does report that the last US combat troops have left Iraq, but second, it mentions that the US State Department is going to be doubling their security contractors (upto nearly 7,000) and these civilians will be providing security, escort duty, quick reactions forces, even flying drones over Iraq. Huh? Just yesterday I wrote about the possible inefficiency in using US Navy ships in humanitarian efforts, and today I’ve got a bit of the opposite–using civilian military forces in place of the Army.

To move around Iraq without United States troops, the State Department plans to acquire 60 mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, called MRAPs, from the Pentagon; expand its inventory of armored cars to 1,320; and create a mini-air fleet by buying three planes to add to its lone aircraft. Its helicopter fleet, which will be piloted by contractors, will grow to 29 choppers from 17. The department’s plans to rely on 6,000 to 7,000 security contractors, who are also expected to form “quick reaction forces” to rescue civilians in trouble, is a sensitive issue, given Iraqi fury about shootings of civilians by American private guards in recent years. Administration officials said that security contractors would have no special immunity and would be required to register with the Iraqi government. In addition, one of the State Department’s regional security officers, agents who oversee security at diplomatic outposts, will be required to approve and accompany every civilian convoy, providing additional oversight.
Wow, really sounds like the kind of job the military might excel at don’t you think? There is a reason–plenty of reasons.  Obama’s team can say “we’re out of Iraq” with shades of the “Mission Accomplished” banner far from their memories (deja vu?) and the Iraqi ‘government’ for lack of a better word can says ‘the US is out of Iraq’.  Of course the reality on the ground is probably a shade different than those two stories that both governments want to start spinning.  There are still 50,000 advisors in country, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more than a few special operations teams looking for this guy or that (and not afraid to fire a weapon if it comes to that). Something tells me there are a few asterisks to the story of “the last combat troops leaving” that we haven’t heard just yet.]]>

The Peace Corps needs a Navy

dispatched 6 desperately needed helicopters from combat operations in Afghanistan, but with the arrival of the USS Peleliu those six will return to be replaced by 19 USMC helos (eventhough, in an unrelated incident, the captain of the Peleliu was relieved of command last weekend). Last year the disaster was in Haiti, and before then we had earthquakes and tsunamis all of which required a significant deployment of US combat capabilities in a humanitarian effort.  Sometimes these come at a cost, such as when our aircraft carriers were working with the Indonesian tsunami and we had to offload all the combat aircraft (carrier pilots need to land on a carrier every 21 days to maintain proficiency, which was nearly impossible with all the relief operations ongoing on the deck and the refusals of local governments for military aircraft to operate in their airspace). While the military does a wonderful job assisting in humanitarian efforts, it’s sometimes like calling the fire department to rescue a cat from a tree.  Is the military the most efficient resource we can send to a humanitarian crisis?  Is there a better suited federal agency or group that could provide necessary assistance? Perhaps it is time for the Peace Corps to develop a Navy. Taking a few amphibious assault vessels out of the reserve fleets and turning them over to the Peace Corps might be an interesting approach.  Staffed with Peace Corps volunteers, professional (contract) pilots, and merchant mariners, we could develop a small fleet of emergency assistance vessels that would patrol the worlds oceans providing medical assistance to impoverished lands and responding to natural disasters with their own fleet of specially suited rescue and logistics helicopters.  Without the ‘US Military’ label that goes on some operations, countries might be more willing to accept assistance.  Take the Chinese earthquake in Sichaun in 2008.  Existing Chinese military units were vastly overstretched, but national pride prevented initial requests for international assistance.  Had an amphibious ‘rescue’ vessel been offshore or in Hong Kong the response from the US could have been non-militaristic and immediate. Of course given the budget deficits and the fact that humanitarian dollars flowing to the Pentagon help to offset some of the operational expenses of the forces, I don’t foresee this happening anytime soon.  C’est la vie.]]>

Interview with a Chinese iPad smuggler

today was iPad day in Hong Kong, and we were just about 100 feet and 1 floor up from one of the largest resellers of iPads (with the longest lines) in the entire city. Something just didn’t seem right. [caption id="attachment_3083" align="alignright" width="276" caption="Photo from neonpunch.com"][/caption] One of the men looked up quickly when a gaggle of teenage girls cautiously turned the corner. They gave a quick nod over toward him and he jumped up immediately. He walked over and they handed over plastic shopping bags with large Apple logos on the side–two bags per girl, along with the receipts. In exchange each girl got $100HK (about $12 US) per bag. The girls promptly blended into the crowd of other shoppers and the man was busy stuffing boxes into his luggage. He then rolled his suitcase back to the Starbucks where it was stacked with other luggage, looking quite like a traveller ready to go on a journey. “Dude” I whispered to my friend. “These guys are iPad smugglers.” We had seen the mules in the line. Folks wearing masks, sunglasses and hats who were very shy when it came time for photos. People kept turning around, hiding under newspapers, even opening umbrellas to shield us from our cameras. The Bloomberg reporter told me “those kids are Triad members (Chinese mafia) who will be selling their iPads later today in Mongkok”. With that bit of warning we were both a bit hesitant to talk to the guys in the Starbucks, fearing they may be the ringleaders of some violent Ax Gang from a hard life council flat in rundown Kowloon. “I wonder if they could get me an iPhone 4” I thought to myself. The man came back from the girls with eight bags filled with iPads. His partner pulled out a legal tablet and made some check marks. The page was filled with dozens of check marks. 16gb, check, 32 gb, check, 32gb 3G, check, check. Of course, looking over to our table was probably just as confusing for the two smugglers. We were frantically busy uploading video of the iPad launch to Youtube and had two Mac laptops, a mifi, an iPhone 3G, a Sony HD Camcorder, a Canon Digital SLR and a dried out danish. They noticed us noticing them or we noticed them noticing us (I can’t remember which came first) and finally I just had to break the ice. “Do you like the iPhone 4” I said with a smile, sliding over to get a better look. “Yeah, it’s great” he said with barely a hint of an accent. “The screen is great”. So we started chatting about the phone and the screen and whatnot. He got it in China he said, but it was originally from the UK. I finally got around to the meat of the matter and said “pretty crazy day” pointing over to the reseller nearby. “Yea, I’m going to be here for hours” “Getting an iPad for your friends?” “More than a few friends. I have $2 million RMB I have to spend today (about $300,000 US). My boss sent me down here and we’ve got dozens of people in line. There are five other guys in other parts of Hong Kong doing the same thing.” “Good business I guess”. “Yea, but it’s not our main business. We have a factory in China making (this and that). That’s our core business, it’s just this opportunity arose and the boss wanted to take advantage of it. It’s much cheaper for us to get the iPads here in Hong Kong than flying over to the USA and bringing them back.” “Are those people in line friends of yours?” [caption id="attachment_3084" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo from neonpunch.com"][/caption] “No, we hired a ‘hat gang’. One guy is the top hat and he goes out and recruits all the kids. We pay them $100HK per iPad, and some of the kids will go to another store later today to get in line again. Better than them doing nothing all Summer just goofing around.” Just then a runner came down, a skinny kid in a crooked oversized baseball hat, and reported to the other man some news. After he left I returned to our conversation. “Was that the ‘top hat’?” I asked. “Ha,” he said. “The top hat is VERY big and watching the kids closely.” Each kid was holding essentially $10,000 HK in cash ($1,200 USA) so the top hat was to make sure the kids didn’t get any funny ideas. “How are you going to get these into China?” where the tax rate is about 20% on imported items like this. “Not my problem” he laughed with an expression that said ‘thank god’. “I’m to take these to a shipper in Hong Kong later today and he will deal with that. You know China–a bit of money to the right person can open up a channel” he said. “Only about 50% will go to China. The other 50% will go to folks in Hong Kong who couldn’t be bothered to wait in a line.” “I actually have two cars down in the parking garage right now.” he said. “When the first is full it will head over and I’ll take the second one later tonight. I think I’m going to be here for five hours or so.” “All your men are at one store. Why don’t you use the other store (which had significantly shorter lines) just around the corner” “That store opens the box before they sell it to you, ripping the plastic and making the iPad less valuable on the resale market”. His phone rang and he hurried to answer it. After a few words in Chinese he hung up and turned back to us. “The order has changed. Originally it was the 16gb wifi–the cheapest one that we were supposed to focus on, but now the boss says get whatever we can. I guess it’s selling out pretty well all over Hong Kong.” He then turned to his friend who had to communicate the order back to the gang leaders and their underlings still in the line. We got up and said our goodbyes. It was a pretty fascinating look at the process of smuggling, from the outsourcing of the lower end jobs (line sitters) to the handoff of the significant risk (the cross-border entry). With a markup of about 100% for the street price in China, this guy was going to bring in about $200,000 US in profits for just a couple days work sitting in a Starbucks. Maybe we’ll see him again on Friday when the iPhone 4 goes on sale. Here is the video Neonpunch.com shot showing many of the mules who were waiting in line. ]]>