News

Apple Brings Its Online Retail Experience To Saudi Arabia

The Cupertino company has launched its official online store and app in Saudi Arabia, offering Arabic-language support and personalized shopping for the first time.

Published

1 year ago

July 22, 2025

Nour Nasir

apple brings its online retail experience to saudi arabia

Apple has officially entered the Saudi retail market with the launch of its Apple Store online and the Apple Store app, now fully available in Arabic. The move marks the tech giant’s first direct-to-customer retail presence in the Kingdom — a shift that gives users access to Apple’s full product lineup and support ecosystem in their native language.

“We are thrilled to bring the Apple Store online and the Apple Store app to Saudi Arabia, offering customers a new way to explore and shop Apple’s extraordinary lineup of products and services,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and People. “Our teams can’t wait to connect with customers and help them discover how Apple innovations can meaningfully enrich their daily lives”.

apple online store saudi arabia

Through the Apple Store app, users can browse with personalized recommendations based on their current devices, compare models, manage saved items, and track orders. The rollout also introduces full Arabic-language engraving for the first time, allowing customers to personalize AirPods, Apple Pencil, AirTag, and more with both Arabic and English text, emojis, or numbers.

Customers can now configure their Mac with custom chip, memory, and storage options or mix and match Apple Watch bands and cases for a personalized look. Support is also being expanded through chat and phone assistance, with services like Personal Setup, iOS migration, and cellular activation included post-purchase.

The store also offers Buy Now Pay Later options via Tamara, enabling customers to split payments over four months with zero interest. The Trade In program also arrives in the Kingdom, giving users the chance to exchange old devices for credit — or recycle them free of charge if no credit is available.

Also Read: Twitch Launches Arabic Right-To-Left Interface For Web & Mobile

Students and educators gain access to Apple’s Education Store, with discounted pricing on Macs and iPads. A limited-time back-to-school offer is also live until October 21, bundling AirPods or another accessory with eligible purchases.

Apple has confirmed it will begin opening physical stores in Saudi Arabia from 2026, with an iconic flagship planned for Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The move builds on existing ties in the Kingdom, including the Apple Developer Academy launched in Riyadh in 2021 in partnership with local institutions.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.