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Angela Ahrendts on Apple Retail Criticism: 'I Don't Read Any of it, and None of it is Based on Fact'
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Apple, one of the most successful companies in the world, with many millions of repeat customers opening their wallets to purchase premium products at premium prices year after year after year.
Yeah...that certainly dovetails with your assertion about being out of touch with respect to what customers want.
Most people commenting here are commenting on the Apple stores, rather than the products. The stores have declined tremendously in my opinion. Going in to simply purchase a product shouldn’t be difficult.
lol first thing we all thought. What a complete ****tard she is.
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Ahrendts has the unique managerial skill of being able to make everything she touches worse while having the confidence to act like (and maybe even think) she made it better.
Well, someone's not paying attention.
Customers have been asking for a professional, upgradable, non-thermal throttling desktop for years. Apple ignores them.
Customers have asked Apple not to remove the headphone jacks or extra ports on their gear. Apple ignored them.
Customers asked for their local repair shops to be allowed to repair their Apple gear. Apple ignored them.
Customers have asked to be able to pair a bluetooth mouse with their iPads. Apple ignores them.
If that's be "in touch" with the customers to you, then I don't know what to tell you.
Sure... but if you're in the physical retail business you better listen to the noise on the internet... those are people walking into your stores... and you want to make sure they're happy and the experience is rock solid... that's retail pre-101
I’ve been to several Today at Apple events, especially when I was interested in learning how to edit in Final Cut and Logic, and the classes were all abysmally basic. The poor geniuses had to teach the same beginner class every time because the students were always new and always fresh. Angela got rid of the One to One program for this, and in that program you could actually build a relationship and learning path with individual attention. It was perfect for solving actual problems. The thing is, after 6 or so boring FCPX/Logic classes that taught me basically nothing after the first, I just continued learning through YouTube. I think if people want a basic lesson that’s not customized to their specific needs, they’re better off online, not at an Apple Store.
I wouldn't say this was a mistake at all. They had no intention of selling lots of these. The goal was to hook celebs by gifting them the fancy golden one and the publicity they garnered really helped the apple watch establish itself in the market.
I also wouldn't call the HomePod a mistake. It's a great device with a lot of future potential.
Ahr'endous is no worse than many big company execs - they reach a ridiculously overpaid role as much by luck than judgement and once there exist in a self-serving world disconnected from the majority. All too often people like here ride a wave of renewal created by their predecessor then get out before their own incompetence become apparent, creating an aura of skill that is completely unjustified.
The reason she doesn't read criticism is because she is rich enough to not give a ***t......along with her current and future employers.
The reason she doesn't read criticism is because she is rich enough to not give a ***t......along with her current and future employers.
That kind of a crappy attitude is not a going to accomplish much. What the hell has happened to this company?
Good thing Apple got rid of that arrogant piece of cancer!
Tim had been wrong about this person.
A personal tragedy, such limited people never do mature. At some point she will probably go mad in knowing how alone she is with her fantasies. Such people always misinterpret a smile.
Tim had been wrong about this person.
A personal tragedy, such limited people never do mature. At some point she will probably go mad in knowing how alone she is with her fantasies. Such people always misinterpret a smile.
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That would depend on the volume of the noise. Smart leaders address the noise before it becomes a roar. Or, they figure out how to use the noise to their advantage.
I think it's healthy to have non-tech executives in some positions. Having a tech-focused leadership monoculture is downright dangerous, IMHO. Airbnb is a hospitality business (not tech). Apple Retail is about selling/educating. For sure, technology is crucial, but plenty of tech-focused individuals are employed by each. They both have the tech angle covered.
I thought the interview was a good opportunity to restate priorities: Apple Retail's moving on, reinventing itself, staying relevant to the next generation of consumer. Like many here, I was an early adopter 10-20 years ago, but it's not about me anymore. And that's fine.
I still buy Apple products, but I do online product research then find the cheapest seller. I still use Apple stores for instant repairs or a quick hands-on with a new product. It works for me and I think it works for Apple too. Just my 2 cents.
Ah, the best kind Managers. Getting up the ladder by pretending and throwing down the bus or right of stealing any idea or success from anyone below that gets too close.
As a woman (and a minority) who has worked with mostly male engineers in the telco industry, I appreciate that you’re trying to clean out the sexist noise and leave the real constructive observations to stand out.
Unfortunately, the sexist noise is a huge part of many a working woman’s day. (And even for men, in jobs where women predominate) And sadly so is racist noise.
As a mother and an aunt, I’d rather know what’s really there rather than a sanitized facade. I want to know the thoughts and prejudices that are going into the voting and the hiring practices and the promotion decisions and the dating and socialization dynamics that the young people in my family are going to have to face.
You can stop people from saying things but you can’t stop them from thinking these things. They’re just going to lie and make up some other reason to mask their real motivations. It’s better to be offended than blindsided any day. So I’d rather NOT have these posts and comments removed. But yeah, definitely call them out.
But that’s just my take on it. I respect that for others it’s all just too offensive to bear.
As to the rest of your post, well done. I wish you or someone like you could straighten Apple out.
Going into the Apple Store now is a weird and confusing experience. There are so many employees standing around and they ARE working. But there’s almost no motion and there are long waits for product to come out from the back room. It just looks weird. The atmosphere is weird and awkward. There’s just no sense of flow. I don’t like going there anymore when I actually want to buy something that has to come from the back room.
And as an enterprise customer, my husband did notice that the relationship to enterprise drastically and quietly fell apart.
