← Morning Warning ListMax Noble
BANKRUPT · The 5 Minute StoryDenmark · No. 1

The Morning Warning List · 20 October 2026

Humac

In 2024 he sold Denmark’s Apple shops. In 2026 he bought them back, out of a rescue. Why would anyone buy the same problem twice?

DGrade · old companyA formal rescue caps the grade at D. The new company has no accounts yet.

By Max Noble · 20 October 2026 · 5 minutes

1The company

Denmark’s Apple shop.

Humac has sold Apple products in Denmark since 1989. It sells the same iPhones and Macs you can buy almost anywhere, and tries to earn its money on advice, set-up and repairs. In 2022 it had 22 shops; this summer it had 14.

2What it promised

A better shop for the same phone.

Humac’s promise to customers was simple: buy your Apple product from people who know it, and get help when it breaks. When the chain reopened in September, the new owner promised more of the same, only better.

  • Denmark's largest Apple Premium ResellerHow Humac long described itself
    Shrank
  • Denmark's best customer experienceHumac, on reopening, 16 Sep 2026 (our translation)
    Open
  • A sustainable businessHumac, on reopening, 16 Sep 2026
    Open

One minute read. Four to go.

You've read the first minute

So why is Humac No. 1 on the Danish list?

Subscribe free to the Morning Warning List and read the other four minutes now. Every morning at 05:00 you get the list and the next story.

  • What eight losing years look like, in two charts
  • The one reason no Apple shop can win on price
  • Three moves the new owner should make now

Free. No noise. One reply is enough to leave the list. Not investment advice.

3What it delivered

Eight losing years in a row.

The shops kept their doors open, but the money kept running the wrong way. 2025 was the eighth year in a row with a loss: DKK 27 million. By the end of the year the company owed DKK 22 million more than everything it owned.

Fewer shops, year by year

0102022202214Aug 20268Sep 2026
From 22 shops to 14. Fourteen reopened on 16 September; by 21 September the new owner’s company listed eight. Sources differ, so watch this number. Sources: Recordere, 14 Aug and 16 Sep 2026; Estatenews, 21 Sep 2026.

2025: what came in, and what went out

Left after buying productsDKK 28.8mCost of running the businessDKK 55.9mThe lossDKK 27.2m
For every krone left after paying Apple, running the business cost almost two. Money left after buying products (gross profit) DKK 28.8m; loss DKK 27.2m. The cost of running it, DKK 55.9m, is our calculation from those two. Source: Humac’s 2025 accounts via Proff.dk.
4Why it’s on the list

When the supplier sets the price.

Here is the problem in one picture. You can buy the same iPhone from Apple’s own website, from your phone company with a subscription, and from the big electronics chains. Apple decides what it looks like, what it costs, and when it launches.

So Humac could not win on price, and it could not win on product. What was left to sell was help: advice, set-up and repairs. But most customers expect help to come free with the phone. The trade press says the same thing: phone companies, big chains and Apple’s own shop have squeezed the margin out of shops like Humac.

When the supplier sets the price, your service is your profit.

The second problem was ownership. Humac changed hands in 2022, again in December 2024, and again this September. Its Italian owner went into its own reconstruction in April. A shop with three owners in four years rarely gets to finish one plan.

That is why Humac is No. 1 on the Danish list. The old company went through a formal rescue, which caps its grade at D. The new company has no accounts yet, so it has no Score. The next set of accounts will tell us whether this rescue is a new start or a pause.

Three changes of owner in four years

2022Bought from a Russianowner by Jacob Andersenand son JoachimDec 2024Sold to theItalian Appleretailer C&CApr 2026Italian ownergoes intoreconstruction13 Aug 2026Humac goes intoreconstruction.All shops close16 Sep 2026Reopens. JacobAndersen’s companytakes over
Sources: Recordere (citing Børsen), 14 Aug 2026; Estatenews, 21 Sep 2026.
5What it should do now

Three moves for the new owner.

1

Charge for the help.

Make repairs, set-ups and service the product, with clear prices and plans. Humac already says service and repair are its focus. Now it has to earn on them.

2

Fewer, better shops.

Keep a shop only where the sales and repairs it brings pay the rent. Eight strong shops beat fourteen tired ones.

3

Sell to businesses.

Companies buy many Macs at once and need them set up, fixed and replaced on a plan. That is steady money the box stores rarely chase.

And one rule for the owner: keep cash in the bank. A shop that loses money for eight years is kept alive by its owners. The new start needs a cushion, not just a new sign on the door.

The law

When the supplier sets the price, your service is your profit.

Humac is not a story about bad shops. It is a story about selling something everyone else sells, at a price someone else sets.

Sources

Every number traceable.

  • Recordere, 14 Aug 2026: Humac closes all shops and webshop · recordere.dk
  • Recordere, 16 Sep 2026: Humac reopens all shops · recordere.dk
  • MereMobil, 16 Sep 2026: new owners, focus and competition · meremobil.dk
  • Estatenews, 21 Sep 2026: Jacob Andersen Holding takes over · estatenews.dk
  • Proff.dk: Humac 2025 accounts (gross profit, result, equity) · proff.dk

The grade, the three moves and the law are Max Noble’s analysis. Running costs are our calculation from the published accounts.