Angela Ahrendts Departing Apple in April, Deirdre O'Brien to Oversee Retail and People

[az431]

Follow my posts. I am king of numbers here and know very well Apple sales were down $4.8B in China. I’ve been saying it since the numbers were announced.

What I’m saying is she might have been the scapegoat. A scapegoat is blamed for the faults of others.

A novel theory given that there has been zero talk about any connection between China sales and Apple stores.

When I say zero I mean as in gigantic empty black hole that can swallow the entire galaxy, yet not get any emptier than it is because there is not even a single atomic level particle left in it.

 

[JWiLL1988]

What? My local store always has some dude teaching something on an iPad using an IMAX-sized screen while billions of people who have been waiting for hours for an appointment to fix their iPhone 7 watch in despair. And weep.

I still remember absolutely destroying my iPhone 4 in NYC in 2012 and getting a brand spanking new one at the Grand Central store in less than 20 minutes for $199. Today that would be a very expensive proposition and there is absolutely no way that would be a same day replacement. Or cost just $199...

Unless you went in during the battery program of last year, there’s is no reason you won’t get your screen fixed in under 2 hours at max.

 

[HobbesInVA]

I think she is/was tagged as the fall guy for Apple's slump. It makes sense since she is/was the retail chief.

 

[NauticalDaniel]

Apple has always been a fashion company in a sense, a status symbol company.

The future of Apple is wearables. Watch + AirPods + Glasses will lead the company into the next decade. A fashion CEO would’ve been a great fit.

Angela appeared primed to succeed Tim as CEO but I think it became clear to her that he has no plans to leave anytime soon.

I absolutely agree about wearables being the future. Watch, AirPods, and soon to be Glasses will be sufficient enough to replace the phone, along with services that seamlessly connect the three. Tim said something similar in an interview a few weeks ago with Jim Cramer on CNBC.

 

[az431]

That’s because all of the employees don’t do the same thing. If I’m a Genius, I work primarily on Mac’s only. So if there are Phones, Ipad’s, or Watches in the queue, I am told most times to not take them in order to stay available for Mac appointments.

The opposite is also true for Technical Specialists as well as sales.

Whatever the reason, Apple stores have become terrible places to visit.

You used to be able to walk in and talk to any employee about anything. Now you walk in and you're pounced upon like the sales people at a Best Buy, but if you need to get something fixed they hand you off to someone that has three other people to help before they get to you. Then when they finally get to you they spend 10 minutes going through a script of insincere questions about your personal life that have nothing to do with the reason you came in.

In other words, they've become more like the Microsoft store.

 

[trusso]

I hope this lady has at least a little less of her head up her butt than her predecessor.

By-the-bye, is it wrong to wonder what might happen if a man headed up retail? I'm afraid groupthink would doom the men as much as the women, but I wonder if it might produce a bit more of a utilitarian direction.

 

[AlumaMac]

I actually liked Apple when it was a niche company. All the complainers, all the negativity you see here on MacRumors, was rare. Apple customers were people who appreciated high quality and attention to detail, even if they had to pay more. I miss those days.

Agreed, Apple was a much better company when they were niche, but there has always been negativity. Were you around for the OS9 > OS X switch? How about when Steve killed the ADB port and everyone had to buy dongles? I just gave them away to my clients for free so I wouldn't have to hear it anymore.

 

[az431]

I think she is/was tagged as the fall guy for Apple's slump. It makes sense since she is/was the retail chief.

I haven't read anything anywhere that one could reasonably piece together as her being blamed. That is, other than a couple of nonsensical posts on MR.

 

[macmyworld]

Ahrendts did zip except make things worse. My guess is she was moved out. Apple stores have become boring.

 

[I7guy]

Good riddance, going into an Apple store these days feel like such a hassle

I like going into an Apple store. However, things are unlikely to change to your likening for a while.

 

[Nismo73]

I get what people are saying about the stores nowadays...during my two exchanges of iPads before Christmas time it was interesting to observe what was going on while waiting.

First when you walk in you don’t obviously know who to talk to first, especially if you’re someone not experienced with going to the apple store.
Then they tell you to stand over there by a product table and wait until someone’s available...
Then you talk to one person, then they get someone else, etc.
And then that big screen in the back...

I used to like to go in and just play around on the computers and iPads and it was pretty chill since a lot of the activity was happening towards the Genius Bar. But now it’s all within the middle of the store.

 

[cmaier]

Follow my posts. I am king of numbers here and know very well Apple sales were down $4.8B in China. I’ve been saying it since the numbers were announced.

What I’m saying is she might have been the scapegoat. A scapegoat is blamed for the faults of others.

Except everyone at apple admitted it was sales headwinds in china. There was no need for a scapegoat. If they wanted to scapegoat her, they’d have blamed retail. But retail sales were fine.

 

[az431]

Agreed, Apple was a much better company when they were niche, but there has always been negativity. Were you around for the OS9 > OS X switch? How about when Steve killed the ADB port and everyone had to buy dongles? I just gave them away to my clients for free so I wouldn't have to hear it anymore.

People have been negative about Apple since the beginning. It's nothing new, and it will always be around. But as soon as Steve Jobs was gone, the forum clowns found a new tagline to use in their clown posts, even though nothing has changed at Apple as far as their culture and way of doing business.
[doublepost=1549408923][/doublepost]

Except everyone at apple admitted it was sales headwinds in china. There was no need for a scapegoat. If they wanted to scapegoat her, they’d have blamed retail. But retail sales were fine.

Not only were they fine, but increased year over year in every market but China and other developing countries.

 

[Baymowe335]

A novel theory given that there has been zero talk about any connection between China sales and Apple stores.

When I say zero I mean as in gigantic empty black hole that can swallow the entire galaxy, yet not get any emptier than it is because there is not even a single atomic level particle left in it.

It was an opinion, which I generally don’t even give without facts. Seems too coincidental to me for it to be unrelated.

Perhaps Cook wanted better performance at Apple retail and without knowing that performance, it’s plausible Apple Retail didn’t perform to his expectations, excaerbating the China impact.

I do think Cook wants the trade in process to be easier for iPhone. He mentioned it many times.
[doublepost=1549409089][/doublepost]

Except everyone at apple admitted it was sales headwinds in china. There was no need for a scapegoat. If they wanted to scapegoat her, they’d have blamed retail. But retail sales were fine.

The China headwinds were true. I don’t dispute it. I’m the one saying it. I don’t think the are going to give details about other areas when the China slowdown was a perfect and factual reason for the shortfall.

I’m speculating Cook was upset Apple Retail didn’t do more to offset that. I could be wrong, but she’s gone and she left as the highest paid Apple exec...making me doubt it was all her choice.

 

[cmaier]

It was an opinion, which I generally don’t even give without facts. Seems too coincidental to me for it to be unrelated.

Perhaps Cook wanted better performance at Apple retail and without knowing that performance, it’s plausible Apple Retail didn’t perform to his expectations, excaerbating the China impact.

I do think Cook wants the trade in process to be easier for iPhone. He mentioned it many times.
[doublepost=1549409089][/doublepost]
The China headwinds were true. I don’t dispute it. I’m the one saying it. I don’t think the are going to give details about other areas when the China slowdown was a perfect and factual reason for the shortfall.

I’m speculating Cook was upset Apple Retail didn’t do more to offset that. I could be wrong, but she’s gone and she left as the highest paid Apple exec...making me doubt it was all her choice.

Ok. You are entitled to your opinion, despite it being absolutely basis and there being zero evidence for it.

 

[jpn]

I get what people are saying about the stores nowadays...during my two exchanges of iPads before Christmas time it was interesting to observe what was going on while waiting.

First when you walk in you don’t obviously know who to talk to first, especially if you’re someone not experienced with going to the apple store.
Then they tell you to stand over there by a product table and wait until someone’s available...
Then you talk to one person, then they get someone else, etc.
And then that big screen in the back...

I used to like to go in and just play around on the computers and iPads and it was pretty chill since a lot of the activity was happening towards the Genius Bar. But now it’s all within the middle of the store.

same here.
i walk into an apple store last week to buy a USB-C 30 watt charger.
i had no idea how to actually purchase it, as the tokyo ginza store is really busy.
there is no way to know where to stand to get in a "line" to be helped, until you force a conversation to know where the secret line forms.
i did figure this out several years ago: there is usually a person when you get off the elevator who is kind of greeter-traffic cop whom you can tell what you want. s/he will arrange the right support.
but it breaks down if that person is not there. and you have no friggin idea where to wait...

 

[az431]

I like going into an Apple store. However, things are unlikely to change to your likening for a while.

6-12 months

 

[unplugme71]

I honestly believe she hurt Apple retail.

 

[az431]

I hope this lady has at least a little less of her head up her butt than her predecessor.

By-the-bye, is it wrong to wonder what might happen if a man headed up retail? I'm afraid groupthink would doom the men as much as the women, but I wonder if it might produce a bit more of a utilitarian direction.

Man or woman makes no difference, but in this case it was a mistake to hire someone whose previous job was running a British luxury fashion retailer. What Apple needs running its stores is a human who can relate to other humans.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Thank God. The Apple stores are a confusing, awful mess right now.

 

[Abazigal]

I bet Ahrendts felt she had accomplished what she set out to do. It was a very creative overhaul. She probably had the time of her life. Now we seem to be moving much more into optimization of operations. (Sustainment, maintenance, optimization.) That may be less attractive.

Most people nowadays change positions every 3-5 yrs. She’s probably ready for a new challenge. Given her comment about missing fashion, maybe this creative freedom reenergized her and she’s ready to go back to the field she enjoys most. And given the optimization of operations stage, O’Brien sounds like a great person to take over. And given all the additional people operations around the training and Today at Apple stuff, her people focus is a natural fit as well.

Looks like once again, people here like to automatically assume the worst of whatever is happening at Apple. Sad, but hardly surprising.

 

[5105973]

I hope this lady has at least a little less of her head up her butt than her predecessor.

By-the-bye, is it wrong to wonder what might happen if a man headed up retail? I'm afraid groupthink would doom the men as much as the women, but I wonder if it might produce a bit more of a utilitarian direction.

Gender probably has nothing to do with anything in the retail domain. I could discuss some anecdotes but I would put us both to sleep. I get why you're asking but my answer would be that it's more the matter of finding the right man than a man. Or right woman vs a woman.

I am worried because this new lady, if I remember correctly, replaced a black woman who simply tried to explain a different way to explore diversity that wasn't focused on just race. But also on experiences and points of view that were based on diversity of backgrounds and interests and personality and age. Basically she was trying to explain how Apple's majority white male leadership did have its own kind of diversity to consider. She wasn't trying to put the kibosh on expanding racial diversity but apparently she was interpreted as doing so. People don't accept apologies and clarifications anymore.

Apple turned on her. As a multiracial woman myself, I was just kind of stunned to see a black woman essentially booted out and replaced by a Caucasian woman over a tussle over diversity.

I didn't really get a sense of this Ms. O'Brien's qualifications then and I don't now. To me, because there's just absolutely been no real PR about her then or now, she just seems like the understudy to be plopped into any role left open by some other woman.

It's really weird. I just can't see the connection between her HR role and retail. Sure there may be some overlap here and there, but retail is a different animal. How can one person effectively wear both hats?

 

[citysnaps]

Did she do anything while at Apple?

Are you serious?

 

[DarrenSW]

No tears shed here. Ahrendts failed to solve the issue of maintaining service standards in Store as Apple got busier, which was surely top priority. I maintain that her remuneration was obscene for what little she delivered.

I agree with the idea of the communal spaces model, but she simply did not make good on it. How to redefine the Stores needs some 'out-of-the-box' thinking, which Apple has struggled to show since they came up with Apple Pay (which was admittedly a genius move) - acknowledging the sea of MacBooks in your average Starbucks and running with that kind of communal space may just be one such move...

 

[Glockworkorange]

Did she do anything while at Apple?

She led the charge to make the Apple stores an absolute zoo with zero structure. Just 1 employee for every 50 customers and no central place to wait for service, like a counter. If you need help, you have to grab an employee, who is usually mobbed by several other people. Might as well just sit on those awful blocks of wood they lay out.

I live a half mile from an Apple store. I'd prefer to just order something online, even if it is readily available down the street. That's how terrible (at least my local) Apple store has gotten.
[doublepost=1549410330][/doublepost]

Well judging by posts here on MacRumours this news is going to make many people happy…

I am thrilled--maybe I can start shopping in store again as opposed to online.
[doublepost=1549410424][/doublepost]

Going to miss her incredibly dry Keynote delivery. Where will they ever find somebody so—wait, just slap a wig on Cook and it'll be like Ahrendts never left.

View attachment 820169

They just had to replace her with someone who has a vagina.
[doublepost=1549410481][/doublepost]

Not.
[doublepost=1549403073][/doublepost]

Agreed. In my opinion it got worse.

It became so much worse when she took over. So. Much. Worse.