May 2005

There are additional details about the Core Group’s plans for retail expansion in South Africa, which is the is the second best performer within Apple’s European, Middle East and Africa region, according to the company.

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In August 1985 Apple withdrew from all business activity in South Africa, over a year before the U.S. Congress enacted the Comprehensive Antiapartheid Act, imposing trade and investment sanctions on the country. It wasn’t until President Bush lifted sanctions in 1991 that U.S. companies were legally able to reinvest in the country. Since 2001, the country of 45 million at the southern tip of Africa has been dependent upon the Core Group as the sole distributor of Apple gear to various resellers. Then in Jan. 2005 Apple closed its South African representative office and transferred all responsibilities to Core Group, designating them as an "independent marketing company," acting as a subsidiary to market Apple’s products and services.

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Now the Core Group will open its own retail Apple Centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, at undisclosed locations. The stores will service an established and growing Macintosh user base, points out András Lengyel, which includes magazine publishers and other creative professions. In fact, South Africa is the second best performer within Apple’s European, Middle East and Africa region, according to the Core Group. There are already four Apple Centres split between Johannesburg and Cape Town, all independently-owned.

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