Of course not, but I can't agree that they are "hungry for innovation" while other companies are innovating in the field and Apple is quite "stale".
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Apple Retail's Emphasis on Profits Continues, Tied to Operational Perspective of Cook and Browett
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Of course not, but I can't agree that they are "hungry for innovation" while other companies are innovating in the field and Apple is quite "stale".
slightly OT: randomly decided to watch my first Keynote with Tim Cook and omg his presentation technique is such a fail. he needs to take a rhetoric training or something. he sounds like one of my profs no one can listen to for longer than 10 minutes without falling asleep 
"we have ... pause ... prepaaaaared a ... pause ... videooooooo and i'm .... pause ... gonna shoooow it to youuuu ... pause ... now"
and to be back on topic a quote
"Those that have come from other failed or failing retailers will be allowed to peddle their poor ideas at Apple, and tarnish what has been one of the single greatest retailers on the planet."
"we have ... pause ... prepaaaaared a ... pause ... videooooooo and i'm .... pause ... gonna shoooow it to youuuu ... pause ... now"
and to be back on topic a quote
"Those that have come from other failed or failing retailers will be allowed to peddle their poor ideas at Apple, and tarnish what has been one of the single greatest retailers on the planet."
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There's a lot of people out there with money to spend, and they will spend it as long as they feel that they're getting value for that money. That's why Apple have been so successful - they charge a significant premium, but when you buy the product you feel special. From the retail experience, through to the unboxing and then the product itself and the support that you receive. If Apple cut back on any of those factors then they're misunderstanding what makes them worth spending money on.
Of all the posts in this thread, this is the saddest. Talk about screwed up priorities. TEARS running down your face over this????????
When you make your number 2 your successor, and he was a good number 2 because he focussed on all the fiddly details and made sure there was no waste, what makes you think he will know anything at all about the big picture? His big picture is a mosaic of tiny pieces of profits all built on top of each other in a neat and tidy highly organised form. He'll never paint a Van Gogh or a Michel Angelo or a Picasso though.
That's where SJ was different. He merged art and engineering and polished it with customer satisfaction. The stores were built not as profit centres, but because nobody was pushing the Apple brand to consumers because all the organisations supplying computers were tightly welded to Microsoft.
The stores are an extension of the "think different" motto Apple users love so much. Their architecture, their locations, the way they work in softly satisfying new and existing customers, the way they say you too can have a quality product that gives you as much satisfaction as using our stores does; it says "we don't have sales staff, we have advisors" and I'm afraid it seems that neither Tim Cook (who hired him to change Apple Retail) nor John Browett understand the difference here.
I work in investing for a living, and I can tell you it is not necessary to put profits above customers, in fact this nearly always loses money in the long run. Look after your customers, and their money will look after you. Let them know you are only after their money, and you soon won't have any customers. That way lies a race to the bottom that Cook's old employer HP and Browett's old employer Dixons are suffering from so much now.
When you're different, don't copy your competitors!
That's where SJ was different. He merged art and engineering and polished it with customer satisfaction. The stores were built not as profit centres, but because nobody was pushing the Apple brand to consumers because all the organisations supplying computers were tightly welded to Microsoft.
The stores are an extension of the "think different" motto Apple users love so much. Their architecture, their locations, the way they work in softly satisfying new and existing customers, the way they say you too can have a quality product that gives you as much satisfaction as using our stores does; it says "we don't have sales staff, we have advisors" and I'm afraid it seems that neither Tim Cook (who hired him to change Apple Retail) nor John Browett understand the difference here.
I work in investing for a living, and I can tell you it is not necessary to put profits above customers, in fact this nearly always loses money in the long run. Look after your customers, and their money will look after you. Let them know you are only after their money, and you soon won't have any customers. That way lies a race to the bottom that Cook's old employer HP and Browett's old employer Dixons are suffering from so much now.
When you're different, don't copy your competitors!
isn't it obvious to anyone that a good customer experience gives rise to profits?
I mean DUH, a profit is an outcome of good service it's not the way you make something good.
It's the charlatan sales guys in other stores that put me off asking, trying or thinking about buying. I'm sure i'm the same as anyone in the world when I pressure never got me to be happy about a purchase ever!
I mean DUH, a profit is an outcome of good service it's not the way you make something good.
It's the charlatan sales guys in other stores that put me off asking, trying or thinking about buying. I'm sure i'm the same as anyone in the world when I pressure never got me to be happy about a purchase ever!
You forgot that some people have a screwed up belief system and treat a successful businessman as a god.
Goodbye Apple stores. It was a good run. You'll have plenty of company though, with Best Buy and Circuit City not having much to do lately.
You see, this is just a little part of the whole Apple thing where you have their fans saying they want everyone else in ruin and Apple should rule the tech world.
they just don't seem to understand what happens when a company starts getting cocky and thinking at can do, make, sell anything it likes and stop other companies competing against us.
Like if Samsung can't sell their G2S phones etc in the US who is the loser?
The consumer, the normal men/women in the street "us" that's who.
I don't know why a select number of people are just so dim they can't understand that, and think Apple exists for the good of the human race.
they just don't seem to understand what happens when a company starts getting cocky and thinking at can do, make, sell anything it likes and stop other companies competing against us.
Like if Samsung can't sell their G2S phones etc in the US who is the loser?
The consumer, the normal men/women in the street "us" that's who.
I don't know why a select number of people are just so dim they can't understand that, and think Apple exists for the good of the human race.
"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed."
Mahatma Gandhi
I don't like where Apple is heading. These changes in retail are going to cause them to lose valuable people in their stores, both staff and customers. I will be buying my Apple products online. I am beginning to question Tim Cook's leadership.
Mahatma Gandhi
I don't like where Apple is heading.
These changes in retail are going to cause them to lose valuable people in their stores, both staff and customers. I will be buying my Apple products online. I am beginning to question Tim Cook's leadership. 
C'mon Tim. Don't let this happen. This could be the first domino that initiates the demise of Apple.
The ifoAppleStore piece is really rather skewed against Cook. Let's rewind just a bit and recall that the original reason Jobs green lighted the Apple Store concept was because the brand was getting short shrift at the big box stores. There was literally no place in almost the entire world where the Apple-unaware consumer could go to get a true experience of the company's computer products.
Back to 2012, the Apple retail store has matured from a company showcase to a legitimate destination retail business. Where as in 2001 it's purpose was to give consumers a place to expose themselves with Apple's other products, and sales were not the primary focus, in 2012, with multiple locations in every major U.S. metro area, and expanding internationally now, it is conceivable that actual on-site sales takes a stronger focus. Cook has to justify the store's expenses to both the BODs and stockholders (not individual ones like you and me, but institutional holders like mutual & pension funds). It's how all businesses work. Once an element gets too big, it has to pay it's own way. It's why Nike, for example, shuttered so many NikeTowns a few years ago and focused only on the biggest U.S. cities and tourist locations.
Anecdotally, I have not noticed any deleterious changes on the consumer level, at least at the DC area stores. The geniuses have always been "hit or miss," but recently I worked with one of the friendliest, caring ones since I've been visiting Genius Bars (2001). Similarly, recently I went in to buy a Mag 2 to Mag Safe adapter and wanted to try out the Easy Pay app. I had no problem getting someone to show me how it worked (I didn't realize it required location services to be on. Off is my default on every app other than navigation).
Back to 2012, the Apple retail store has matured from a company showcase to a legitimate destination retail business. Where as in 2001 it's purpose was to give consumers a place to expose themselves with Apple's other products, and sales were not the primary focus, in 2012, with multiple locations in every major U.S. metro area, and expanding internationally now, it is conceivable that actual on-site sales takes a stronger focus. Cook has to justify the store's expenses to both the BODs and stockholders (not individual ones like you and me, but institutional holders like mutual & pension funds). It's how all businesses work. Once an element gets too big, it has to pay it's own way. It's why Nike, for example, shuttered so many NikeTowns a few years ago and focused only on the biggest U.S. cities and tourist locations.
Anecdotally, I have not noticed any deleterious changes on the consumer level, at least at the DC area stores. The geniuses have always been "hit or miss," but recently I worked with one of the friendliest, caring ones since I've been visiting Genius Bars (2001). Similarly, recently I went in to buy a Mag 2 to Mag Safe adapter and wanted to try out the Easy Pay app. I had no problem getting someone to show me how it worked (I didn't realize it required location services to be on. Off is my default on every app other than navigation).
Tim Cook, it appears is taking the directive from Apple's history "Think Different." In this case, that "different" is that of Steve Jobs. The article is hard to believe though as others have said - Apple according to their PR and other articles appears to have the highest sales per square foot. Either a lot of overhead or something going on.
I think Tim Cook is a fantastic business man. I think he can keep Apple going for several years. But that nest egg will come in handy because it's entirely possible that under Tim's leadership - the massive profits will start to dwindle if Apple doesn't shake things up in the industry again and again like they did with the iPhone and iPad. I'm also not convinced that an Apple TV will do it either.
I think Tim Cook is a fantastic business man. I think he can keep Apple going for several years. But that nest egg will come in handy because it's entirely possible that under Tim's leadership - the massive profits will start to dwindle if Apple doesn't shake things up in the industry again and again like they did with the iPhone and iPad. I'm also not convinced that an Apple TV will do it either.
It basically comes down to greed. Apple don't actually care about us, the customer. It only cares about making $$$$$ and monopolising. As their greed increases, their mask will slip and everyone will be left feeling used and cheated, at the end of the day, they only make phones and computers... Personally I blame sites like this one and people like John Rettinger etc for hyping Apple (and all electronic devices) beyond the necessary. I was obsessed with electronics a few years back, but thankfully I have gotten over that...in the big picture, they assist our lives and make it easier as much a toaster or a corkscrew, and we don't go worshipping the manufacturers of those, do we...?
You can bet Cook and Browett will run the company into the ground. Without their loyal fans, they have nothing...give it a few years and let's see.
You can bet Cook and Browett will run the company into the ground. Without their loyal fans, they have nothing...give it a few years and let's see.
And I suppose the reason it's a front page story on MR is for page hits. This site is becoming more vomit worthy every day.
Careful, or you might start to tear up too
Oh, alright, let it out, it will be good for you.
And what FACT will you rub this in people's faces with? Where are the facts in this story?
Maybe Mansfield, and perhaps Ive(Though not directly involved in retail) as veterans at Apple will step in, and smack some sense into Cook. I have no experience with Browett in PC World, or Currys, but this guy has already shown to lack Steve Jobs vision for Apple. RIP Steve, we still love Apple we just hate your new retail chief!
Yet it was Saint Steve who recommended to theboard thwt Tim replace him as CEO.
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And yet it was Steve who recommended Cook take over for him as CEO.
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So that's why Steve recommended Cook take over for him as CEO? Because he wanted Apple destroyed?