Apple fans in Hungary want the "big" Mac in town

If popular Hungarian blogger József Sasvári has it his way, Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. will be hopping on the next flight to Budapest to oversee the opening of a "real" Apple Store, pronto.

On March 16, Sasvári launched a website called wewantappleinhungary.com aimed at convincing Apple Inc. to open a subsidiary in Hungary, and to market products specially for the Hungarian market.

While there is an Apple presence in Hungary, said Sasvári, it is managed through a separate wholesaler and each retail store can market and sell the products at their discretion. Sasvári said of the many Apple Centers and retail electronics shops that sell Apple products, his favorite is XMS in District XIII. Still, he wants the "mother ship to come" since Apple products are not available in the Hungarian language, and some products, such as the iPhone, won't work in Hungary unless they're "cracked."

Sasvári writes about Apple news and products on his technology and Apple blog plastik.hu. He launched the campaign after following Poland's website wewantappleinpoland.com (which was followed by the opening of an Apple outpost in Warsaw, "albeit coincidently," Sasvári said) and heeded readers' requests to do the same in Hungary.

"I had to launch. The goal is to get peoples' attention on Hungary," he said.

Since the site went live three days ago it's received 15,000 unique visits, including 36 hits from computers registered at Apple Inc.

"I hope they are listening," he said, eagerly. "We are good customers here in Hungary."

He said opening a real outpost would mean products designed for the Hungarian market, streamlined marketing campaigns, better customer service, and possibly lower prices.

Certainly, as with many imported consumer goods in Hungary, Apple products are expensive in Budapest. For instance, a new Macbook Air costs Ft 466,320 ($2,854, €1,800) at the Apple Store on Andrassy út, while the same machine costs $1,700 (Ft 270,00, €1,088) in the United States.

For foreigners in Hungary, having Apple Inc. in Hungary could mean better product assistance as well.

Jessica Jewell, from Washington D.C. went to the Apple Store in Budapest to repair her iBook after calling the toll-free Apple service line in the United States. While she didn't get the same quotes from the Apple store in Budapest, she went through them "for ease." Though she said they were helpful, "I was a little bit frustrated [because] it took them eight weeks instead of three to fix my computer," she said.

Whether or not customer service would improve and prices would drop if Apple opened an outpost in Hungary is uncertain, but one thing is clear: only a real Apple evangelist like Sasvári will go the ends of the earth to try. Indeed, Sasvári may be paying Jobs a visit in Cupertino before Apple sets up shop in Budapest.

"I'm planning a trip to California soon, this spring or summer, to camp out in front of Steve's office on a 'Hungary Strike'" said Sasvári, with a grin.

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