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Apple 'Messed Up' with Retail Store Cutbacks, Denies Mass Layoffs

I just hope that before anything gets screwed with beyond repair Browett is shown the door just like it was shown to Mark Papermaster.. and as nicely put by the WSJ back then..

"The Wall Street Journal reported that Papermaster's exit from Apple was rather due to "broader cultural incompability""
 
Whew, that was a close call!

Good thing they only "messed up." Lots of underemployed, exploited youth were starting to feel like horizons of real opportunity might be opening up. Well, we'll put an end to that Mac rumor, right here!

Now you can put on the Lanyard of Servitude and... make no money again!

Steve thanks you, sort of, and so do the Boomer shareholders, totally.
 
FNi said:
John Browett's first cock-up. How many more before Apple finds out what everyone in the UK knew all along?
Click to expand...

He seems to be applying the Dixons "Pile em high sell em cheap" approach to Apples retail outlets....Anybody here could have told him that won't work...He isn't thinking Apple at all...Hs mindset is still in PC land. Macs are not the disposable products of the Windows environment where you buy one every yaer or two.

Get with the programme John.
 
So it appears profit instead of customer service was definitely it. Browett trying to impress, in the wrong way. I wonder who reversed the decision.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ett_planned_to_cut_jobs_to_raise_profits.html

Apple Store aren't just about making profit, as with many big branded stores, they are a shop front to an entire brand. The service, etc is a giant accessible advert for them.

Curry's/PCWorld in the UK are struggling. The customer service has a lot to do with that.
 
I do hope Apple will get rid of John Browett. I don't see the point of having an op guy around unless he's contributing something groundbreaking. I'd rather see an Apple guy taking rein of the seat left by Ron instead of somebody who does not have a good track record in retail business.

Heck, I'd rather Apple hires somebody from Gucci or LV; somebody who has a good sense of how Apple retail should be run to mirror the superb products they make.
 
Macboy Pro said:
Depends.
From a consumer perspective, it could really suck.
- Apple charges $20 for a cable
- being proprietary, no one will have them for awhile
- They could break a lot easier (in the phone or even out of the phone)
- Many already have 5 or more of the current cables/connectors/chargers

From Apple's perspective, its a great silent money grab
- 10 cent cables is sold for $20
- 5 cent converters/connectors are sold for $10
- break it off in the phone, exchange phone for $99 or $199, etc

All in the name of "thin" which is Apple's word for innovation. Oh, and also in the name of "proprietary" which will be Apple downfall or at least why they will never own the market.

Why not a mini USB?
Click to expand...

You could also ask why they invented the Dock Connector in 2003 at all.

But look what it has done over the last 9 years... there were tons off accessories made for it.

And not so many accessories for other brands of phones.
 
Maybe if Browett would have dressed the cutbacks as a rollout of a new "beta staffing formula" it would have been met with less criticism. I mean, as a beta bugs and shortcomings are expected, aren't they? After all, it's beta.
 
shulerg said:
Just wait until he starts trickling down his "Fives" selling strategy to Apple retail...:rolleyes:

Steve would've turned this guy into a rug onboard his super-yacht by now.
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Fives long pre-dates John Browett. They were pedalling that back in '97 when I first worked for PC World (back in the glory days!).
 
I just there are too many staffs at Apple store in San Francisco. I saw, some of them did not work. They were gathering and and talking with their co workers. Especially, staffs on the second floor.
 
"Browett is renowned for cocking up retail" many of us Brits said.

"No, no, he must be good because Apple have hired him, you must be wrong, Apple would never hire an iDud" said many others.

So how's that working out for people?
 
MagicBoy said:
Fives long pre-dates John Browett. They were pedalling that back in '97 when I first worked for PC World (back in the glory days!).
Click to expand...

You are very right:). I just don't ever want to experience employees in my local Apple store trying to use it on me.
 
Macboy Pro said:
Depends.
From a consumer perspective, it could really suck.
- Apple charges $20 for a cable
- being proprietary, no one will have them for awhile
- They could break a lot easier (in the phone or even out of the phone)
- Many already have 5 or more of the current cables/connectors/chargers

From Apple's perspective, its a great silent money grab
- 10 cent cables is sold for $20
- 5 cent converters/connectors are sold for $10
- break it off in the phone, exchange phone for $99 or $199, etc

All in the name of "thin" which is Apple's word for innovation. Oh, and also in the name of "proprietary" which will be Apple downfall or at least why they will never own the market.

Why not a mini USB?
Click to expand...

- Apple could release a connector that is compatible with both Thunderbolt AND USB3. Can't do that with mini USB.
- Apple could include a mini iTCable to Legacy iTCable with new devices for the first products that use the new connector. They may have 5 chargers, but most people only use one accessory/charger at a time.
- Magsafe - no breaking. Which means a better experience for the user AND adds to it being water resistant if it is a sealed connector - a lot of moisture gets into the current iTunes cable port of my iPhone when I shower.

Anything else Macboy Pro? The positives of a move like this far out way any negatives that I know of. And you're naive if you think any company can 'own' almost any market, especially the technology market.
 
How I see Browetts view of an Apple Store.

"Look at all this wasted space on those tables! Six laptops! We could easily get another 10-12 squeezed in there. And that still leaves empty space in the middle. Take a look, what do you see? That's right, nothing. Prime eye level selling space, just full of fresh air. We'll get a glass display case in the middle of these tables, full of product.

The empty space under the tables we can fill with cupboards to put stock in, so the sales drone doesn't have to go out back to fetch the product, we can shave two minutes of a sale that way, perhaps cut 5 staff in doing so.

And these walls, just full of Apple posters! Prime selling space, wasted. All these tables down the walls will have to go, and we'll put shelves and glass fronted cabinets on every bit of available wall space. Anything from a keyboard up will go behind glass, so the shopper has to ask a drone to get it for them, then they have them trapped in order to make add on sales and extended warranties.

As for the frontage, it's all glass, we need to utilise that to inform passers-by of our great offers. Get some big SALE! posters printed and stick them in the windows."
 
Be patience

I think we should be patience with Mr. Browett.
He's new to the Apple ecosystem. Tim sees some capability in him and we should trust him. I'm not quite sure if it was macrumors or appleinsider, where I read the notion that Tim is a "beancounter".
I don't think he is a beancounter per se. To underline this, think of the buying of air freight in 1998 ... this was not bean counting I guess.

One problem with western companies is, that a manager is considered to be unsuccessful when he/she has the same job for more than 2 years. Product development and in particular "great work" isn't done in 2 years. In consequence, managers don't stay from beginning to end. So there is no gaining of any experience.

In contrast, in japanese companies, program manager have an average experience of ten years in a particular position and because of the lean-philosophy development programs are shorter - around 6 months. So managers gain experience on average of (just an example) 20 programs.

Beside Apple's own unique management culture, this company follows the rules of competing against time, lean manufacturing, zen, and so on.
Except lean manufacturing, nothing from the above is taught on western business schools. As MBA you have to focus on costs and that's all.
But Apple focuses on quality, user-experience and time.

What I wanted to say (in short): We think in western terms of doing business and of course this is not Apple's way of doing it and we all know it.
I think we should give him, Mr. Browett and of course Tim Cook and the whole Apple team some time. This is an extraordinary group of people, and they have lost their founder, mentor and friend.

I think fear together with creative motivation are great management tools, but I don't think that Apple performs classical hire & fire culture when something goes wrong in the upper ranks. I think Papermaster was an isolated case.
 
SanJacinto,

So, tell us how the Japanese economy has been doing for the past 20 years please.

You deride the MBA as focusing on cost only. Do you even have an MBA? I do, and can assure you that cost is only one of many things focused on. Your statement on the MBA focus is simply ill informed and wrong.

Look at Dixon's reputation for customer service in retail. Is that consistent with Apple's view? Hardly.

Browett is a cultural mismatch with Apple. His efforts may well be aimed at replicating his past "accomplishments".

Contrary to your view, one of the most common mistakes made by western executives is NOT moving quickly enough to correct a hiring mistake. They allow too much damage and misdirection to take place before moving the person OUT.

Browett is not going to easily change his spots.
 
"focusing on costs" is only one of many reasons to avoid MBAs as a general rule - especially young ones.

There is very little in typical MBA curriculum that can't be learned better and faster by radical concepts such as going out on the floor and actually doing the work.

Not just for retail, applies across all industries.
 
damir00 said:
"focusing on costs" is only one of many reasons to avoid MBAs as a general rule - especially young ones.

There is very little in typical MBA curriculum that can't be learned better and faster by radical concepts such as going out on the floor and actually doing the work.

Not just for retail, applies across all industries.
Click to expand...

And what might those other "reasons" be?
 
I know that good MBA programs don't just focus on costs alone, but in most cases they do.
I know that Dixons is not the best reputation. But do we really know what Bowett drives? Tim worked with Steve together for over 12 years. I don't think that Tim is a typical MBA-character.
Steve wanted Tim for operations at all costs (see Isaacson). I studied operations management too, and I know the difference between the classical curriculum taught at my university and the knowledge I got in books beyond that.
Furthermore, with Japanese, I meant companies like Toyota and Honda (the Honda-Yamaha War). These companies along with Ford in the early 20th century revolutionized this discipline.
I also think, that Steve Cano would be a great Johnson successor. Tim decided against him, who knows why.

In my opinion, there is too much emotion in this thread.
So, to all of you: Have a nice weekend.
 
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powers74 said:
Smelled bad from the get-go. Looks like we've got another Papermaster on our hands.

^^ Two in a row!
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The difference now is that there is no ruthless Steve around to kick his ass out without hesitation.. People talked a lot of smack for Steve being ruthless and "cruel" but you know what, i rather have someone be straight forward with me than someone sugar coating and beating around the bush to tell me what they really think.
 
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