Apple opens 5 new retail stores in big retail push - Page 2

Some of Apple's competitors have taken the other approach:

If it aint broke, fix it until it is.

Not even the end of WW!!

Please. It's f-ing store. Only capitalists would get this excited over another opportunity to spend money quicker.

It wasn't that long ago that all of our Apple purchases were done through catalogues and the internet. To this day I still purchase my apple gear from the web. The apple store "premiums" are ridiculous and the the support is generally useless if you have any computer skills what so ever.

That's all well and good.
What I think newbee was referring to was how you seem to post early and often and usually something negative. Maybe apple insider has become your new disco.

They are all there to hopefully snag one of the free t-shirts for the first 100 people. Japan's first store was giving away gift bags when it first opened.

I recall when Apple started opening their own stores Gateway was closing theirs. People thought Apple was crazy. Guess not now.

MS is looking to catch-up. Good luck with that.

One more practical example of what the absence of Latin in a basic education has wrought.

Nope, opening Apple Stores in bulk is not wise. Apple is carefully selecting their sites and times.
That's the way to be successful.

No matter how you look at it, it's impressive for any company to grow its retail presence during a tough economy. The next few years will be interesting. If the so-called aftershock predicted by doomsayers comes to be, will consumers abandon Apple? Alternatively, if the worldwide economy recovers, will Apple grow even more? If the latter comes true, Exxon Mobile's market cap may be another shrinking image in AAPL's mirror.

Don't take this the wrong way, but Apple needs no advice from anyone when it comes to retail strategy.

Furthermore, it's true that Canada, England and US all have numerous stores, the rest of the world has more than a few collectively. Perhaps it's more accurate to say other countries like Germany, Italy, France, China and Spain have a few EACH, whereas Australia has more than a few.

Went to one of those new stores after the T-shirts line up was gone. Tried new OS setup. I missed the content list after open the apple icon. Does anyone know where it went? Use to be System profile showed list of hardware and software at contents session, by click of mouse, you see all the memory allocation for each of software. It is why I like Mac over the window. Easy to add and delete program at ease. Know exactly what to delete in order to make a room for new software (including the one that may slow down the RAM). The help I can get from the store was show me the comparative specs listed on the adjacent ipad, the system profiles only showed how much used for music, video, etc. but not break down in details. I was told the new OS is similar to the iPod. Any gurus can tell me this is not really true please. If i buy a Mac pro or Mac air, with OS similar to iPod, I might have few issues (I am sure the other few used a bit more than multi=media and social networking, might also have same concerns). I am waiting for Mac gurus to teach me one or two tricks to make the new OS sing. I might have to make a second trip to the NEW store and gets hands on again before part my hard earned money. Thanks in advance.

Indeed. MS simply does not have the right set of products for retail, unless it's XBox, mice, keyboards and software. Showcasing products from Dell, HP and Nokia will not generate the same buzz as Apple stores.

The only hyperbole was by someone not associated with Apple. So recheck your reading comprehension and move on with the snark



Us stores: Alaska and Utah
Non US: Italy, Canada and Australia

Or are you one of those folks that thinks Canada is the 54th state (after Puerto Rico)



They flipped the scrolling, added some of the fancier swipe gestures and an iOS style 'launchpad' application starter you can choose not to use. But you still have the Finder etc. They did hide the Library folder but there are at least three ways to get to it if you really want

That said, I wouldn't want if you are planning to get a Mac Pro and ren't sure about Lion. Any new one is sure to have Lion, as well as newly produced current model units, and there are stories that downgrading doesn't work because there is no support for the new hardware in Snow Leopard and no plans to add it (because they want folks on Lion)

I love my Apple stuff, but this is a boring as Batshit.

You're right, I should have said North American.

54th state? How do you get to 54?

Agreed. I don't understand how a Microsoft retail store is a good idea. They don't sell many products that you can touch.

You must understand it's not just about spending money but getting the right support. Case in point. My craptastic telco here in South East Asia carries the iPhone. Had to wait ONE MONTH to replace my iPhone4 with defective Home button. Now my earphones crapped out (volume buttons, sudden activation of Voice control). Have to wait ??? WEEKS for it ... for a pair of iPhone earphones they can't even have any kind of time estimate, the telco service guy was not willing to even promise anything less than 2 to 3 weeks.

If the above to cases happened at an official Apple Store there'd be much dissatisfaction.

Yes, we are becoming more "instant gratification and entitlement" oriented. But all I ask is 2 weeks to replace my phone, and 10 days to replace a friction' earphone. Is that too much?

Apple gets it. Apple has had massive amounts of complaints for a massive amount of time with their reseller network. That's why their strategy is absolutely brilliant. Expand the purchase network as far and wide as possible (telcos, big-box retail, etc.) but keep your "elite" base for core brand defense ie. Apple Retail Store.

Sometimes when I mean support all I need is for parts to be replaced in a timely fashion. Do not underestimate that official Apple Stores can do this far better than any reseller or authorised service provide in most cases. In fact, in the UK, once Apple Stores started doing repairs, they found massive fraud by one authorised repair network that was reselling parts, using old parts and doing all sorts of naughty stuff... They were, ostensibly, shut down.

Apple may not have the highest quality stuff, goodness knows we all know that. But the official Apple Store network is critical for standing up for one thing... replacements and repairs without undue fuss. It's not perfect but many of us can testify it is better than resellers or authorised service providers.

To you, but there are many of us that await eagerly for an Apple Store at least within 300 miles of where we live.

Thank goodness I am moving to another country to a city for a few months where there is at least one official Apple Store. I hope they don't let me down. Gotta replace my iPad2 with backlight bleed, first thing I get there.

(Of course, the Apple Store is a nice perk of this city, but there are many other challenges and considerations in choosing this city I'm moving to. Fingers crossed with all the other things I hope to achieve and/or enjoy. F**K this stupid city and country I'm in right now. Almost got run over again at the same zebra crossing tonight. My elderly mum right next to me no less.)

There are numerous YouTube videos of customers singing and dancing in Apple stores. There is this one Microsoft store video where the staff was trying desperately to start a sing-along. That says it all. I am waiting for it to show up in an Apple commercial.

This is exactly what I was talking about (and what you failed to understand). It seems that you unknowingly supported my viewpoint. Thanks.

That's fine, I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me. All I was trying to point out was that the crowd who acts a lot more enthusiastically than you or I might are not crazy or wrong .... they just have a lot more "passion" for Apple .... and I can understand that.

I think the excitement comes from the products themselves, not the shelves that they are displayed on.

I think this is true in almost every other industry as well. I know in the automotive industry, where I spent almost my entire life, to date, this is true, A third party manufacturer will usually have their equivalent item for a price that is cheaper than the O.E.M. price. Unfortunately, in most cases, the same can be said of the quality level .... less, sometimes, far less.

All that tells me is that you were passionate about a different product .... which is great .... and that same type of passion from us "fanboys" is what fuels, what some people might call, hyperbole. Good on you for finding that which gave you the excitement that we all should have in our lives. Cheers.

I love intelligent and subtle humor .... probably because I don't have that ability. Thanks for the chuckle.