Microsoft plans to counter Apple by building 75 retail stores in 2-3 years

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Comments

  • Reply 81 of 113
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    I may eat my words some day, but I would rather kill myself than work in a Microsoft retail store. And that's not because I'm an Apple "fanboy" or whatever. It's just... so wrong. Corporate IT ok. But Microsoft as hip and cool retail? The thought just makes me want to throw up.
  • Reply 82 of 113
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pooch View Post


    there is some empty space in the san francisco metreon that might be a good spot for a microsoft store.



    oh, wait, that's why it's empty to begin with. it was already a microsoft store from 99-01. never mind.



    Sony Centre at the SF Metreon was one of the fun places to hang out... Ten years ago. It was certainly more engaging and nice than trying to buy anything from CompUSA on Market St. Although if you were in the city CompUSA had a whole range of peripherals you need... Plus Macs.



    A decade later, it's Apple Retail Store or GTFO.
  • Reply 83 of 113
    jnjnjnjnjnjn Posts: 588member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rtkane View Post


    Now, 75 is too much, but 324, last time I checked, is a lot more than 75



    /sarcasm



    And in two years time it will be 420 Apple stores instead of 324.
  • Reply 84 of 113
    timgriff84timgriff84 Posts: 912member
    Sounds like a good idea to me. People repeatedly say Apple are doing better as they have the complete customer experiance, or that MS can never beat Apple again as they make so much more from each sale. More stores means MS can move from people buying a PC that has Windows on it, to buying a Windows PC from Microsoft that had the hardware made by someone else.



    It's a subtle switch round, but just think Apple don't make the iPhone hardware. MS would ultimately be better off if they sell the devices as they could make a much larger percentage of each sale.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwilson811 View Post


    I was thinking about the Genius Bar as well. What will they do when they have irate customers show up at the store? Are they going to service their existing Windows etc. customers through the channel. Sounds like a poorly devised plan by a desperate CEO to me!



    I would assume they would just do the same thing as the Apple Genius bar. Tell you your device is out of waranty and they can sell you a new one for £10 less from their service department, however it will only have a 1 month warranty or pay the full price and have a year warrenty.
  • Reply 85 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    You are as wrong in your assumption that I am American as you are in essentially every other way.



    Good grief! Where did I assert that you are American? Grow up!
  • Reply 86 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    Oh, yeah. Australia is a manufacturing mecca. You're really one to talk.



    What an intelligent comment - for an idiot!
  • Reply 87 of 113
    jnjnjnjnjnjn Posts: 588member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pauldfullerton View Post


    I am Australian so I couldn't care less if America wants to have a 9.2% unemployment rate, and if I can buy nearly twice as many US$ with an AU$ as I could a few years ago, and if Apple products are now much cheaper here.



    But I can assure you if I was an American I would want to see the full benefits of Steve Jobs genius being reflected in a lower unemployment rate and a better trade balance with Asia. But I guess you guys are so committed to the 'cheaper is better' philosophy that drives companies like Microsoft, that more manufacturing jobs in America is not an issue! Just don't complain if the USA has to default on its US$14 trillion debt - at least you will be able to buy cheap Apple products made overseas if you manage to keep your jobs!



    From what I read on the internet it seems that returning jobs to home is a trent in the U.S. I even read that a company found out that its products could be produced locally (in the same town) at 1.5 times the cost of the Chinese production but without the quality issues and delayed delivery times it was used to.

    And it seems that Foxconn is shifting a large part of its production to Brazil and thats at least on the same continent as the U.S.

    But I'am not sure it will bring a lot of jobs back to he U.S. because the production will be highly automated and require few (if any) workers. Building the factories will be a lot of work, but only for a few years or so.



    J.
  • Reply 88 of 113
    d-ranged-range Posts: 396member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alfiejr View Post


    snark aside, the real question is whether the MS Store’s “technical specialists” really provide useful help to Windows users. that is the one really valuable customer service that is worth opening a store for, and so will help MS compete with Apple.



    Very useful for everyone except Microsoft. Imagine 75 retail stores staffed by people who are ,ainly busy cleaning up Windows machines, downloading .Net updates for customers, configuring their antivirus, and explaining how that new ribbon interface in their Word installation works. That's going to make Microsoft MILLIONS!
  • Reply 89 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pauldfullerton View Post


    All you guys have to do now is to convince Apple to manufacture it's amazing range of products in America rather than exporting all those manufacturing jobs to Asia - but why should I care if you Americans prefer to buy cheap products manufactured overseas rather than have secure jobs!



    Why would Apple want to do that? Why would any company these days want to do that? China has not become the world's manufacturing colossus for no reason, it's because all these public companies are legally required to maximise shareholder returns. That means increased profits. That means, all other things being equal, lower costs. That means ... China. Or another Asian country.



    Remember that America's dominance in world trade and the IMF and the trade rules in place in many countries (all of which it instigated) now mean that none of those countries can legally give preference to home grown suppliers. Here in the UK, the last remaining train manufacturer, Bombadier, looks likely to fold losing over 1,400 jobs in the process because the contract is going elsewhere. The UK government, assuming that they wanted to, cannot legally prefer a UK supplier under current trade rules, they have to tender and get "the best price".



    Up until about the mid 80s, Marks & Spencer, possibly the UK's largest high street clothes retailer used to proudly state in all its stores, "95% of our good are British made". Those signs can no longer be seen and I would challenge anyone these days to find even 5% of goods in M&S stores to be British made. China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico - yes. Britain - no. The UK's garment manufacturing industry has been cut by about 2/3 and who knows how much longer that 1/3 will remain?



    America has shaped a world, in which pretty much each country in the entire West, has decimated its own industries so that manufacturing can be outsourced to the cheapest bidder. Apple is just another part of that global process.



    "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" I believe the phrase goes.
  • Reply 90 of 113
    when I said above that "none of those countries can legally give preference to home grown suppliers" what I meant was that government/public bodies cannot make a local preference
  • Reply 91 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pooch View Post


    there is some empty space in the san francisco metreon that might be a good spot for a microsoft store.



    oh, wait, that's why it's empty to begin with. it was already a microsoft store from 99-01. never mind.



    Brilliant post!
  • Reply 92 of 113
    peter236peter236 Posts: 254member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jnjnjn View Post


    From what I read on the internet it seems that returning jobs to home is a trent in the U.S. I even read that a company found out that its products could be produced locally (in the same town) at 1.5 times the cost of the Chinese production but without the quality issues and delayed delivery times it was used to.

    And it seems that Foxconn is shifting a large part of its production to Brazil and thats at least on the same continent as the U.S.

    But I'am not sure it will bring a lot of jobs back to he U.S. because the production will be highly automated and require few (if any) workers. Building the factories will be a lot of work, but only for a few years or so.



    J.



    Foxconn is not shifting production to Brazil. They are expanding to Brazil. Shifting production does not increase capacity, but expanding does. What Foxconn needs is additional capacity to meet the surging demand for Apple products in China.
  • Reply 93 of 113
    megamega Posts: 16member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Likeke View Post


    MeToSoft innovates again!



    Wrong MeTooSoft plans to innovate again.
  • Reply 94 of 113
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thompr View Post


    I don't see what makes it so complicated. Most companies that move so much retail merchandise don't really move a significant fraction any other way (unlike Apple). So go ahead and use their total revenue in the numerator. I bet you still find out that Apple beats them on the revenue per square foot metric.



    Thompson



    It's complicated because Apple's average revenue/sq-ft is almost certainly less than high end retailers like Tiffany, but Apple's peak revenue/sq-ft is probably more - though we have only very rough estimates.
  • Reply 95 of 113
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pauldfullerton View Post


    Good grief! Where did I assert that you are American? Grow up!



    When you responded to me and said 'you americans' in practically every sentence. For an australian your english language skills are rather poor. Allow me to explain, when you respond to a person the 2-nd person pronoun 'you' is understood by the reader to mean or at the very least include the person to whom you are responding.



    You lefty trolls are idiots.



    See how that works?
  • Reply 96 of 113
    s.metcalfs.metcalf Posts: 972member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JimDreamworx View Post


    But it will help the economy by spreading that M$ money around for rentals, contractors, employees, etc.



    No, they will not get any return on investment as expected, but who cares?



    That's exactly what I was thinking! The good news is that it gives some builders/renovators/fitters some work for a little while, and probably even more when the store fails and someone else has to move in!
  • Reply 97 of 113
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwilson811 View Post


    I was thinking about the Genius Bar as well. What will they do when they have irate customers show up at the store? Are they going to service their existing Windows etc. customers through the channel. Sounds like a poorly devised plan by a desperate CEO to me!



    Has your PC had a near death experience? well bring it on down to the Microsoft WIndows Store 7 for a little bit or retail therapy and talk to our Computer Repair Action Personnel.
  • Reply 98 of 113
    s4mb4s4mb4 Posts: 267member
    i wonder if Microsoft plans on manufacturing its own hardware too?

    the xbox is extremely successful because of that approach. could be that a store front is the place to try out the new Microsoft desktop or laptop.



    Apple is super successful because the hardware works with the OS perfectly.
  • Reply 99 of 113
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s4mb4 View Post


    i wonder if Microsoft plans on manufacturing its own hardware too?

    the xbox is extremely successful because of that approach. could be that a store front is the place to try out the new Microsoft desktop or laptop.



    Apple is super successful because the hardware works with the OS perfectly.



    It hasn't been an entirely happy experience for MS



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Death



    These issues were alleged to be the end results of the decisions of management in Microsoft's Xbox team and inadequate testing resources prior to the console's release. A second source cited that, at one time, there was just a 32% yield of one of the test production runs. 68 of every 100 test units were found to be defective.



    I guess you could argue that defective hardware is the perfect companion for defective software though
  • Reply 100 of 113
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cloudgazer View Post


    It's complicated because Apple's average revenue/sq-ft is almost certainly less than high end retailers like Tiffany, but Apple's peak revenue/sq-ft is probably more - though we have only very rough estimates.



    I've been seeing links like the following for years...



    http://seekingalpha.com/#article/229...r-square-foot/



    Supposedly, Apple put Tiffany's in the rearview mirror a few years back (on this metric). And they've only gotten better.



    Thompson
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