Apple Retail Stores to Receive Facelift Highlighting Software?

[poxonyou]

Thats what they should have been doing since long time ago instead of making those childish ads.
They need to show why Macs are actually better instead of just saying it.

Couldn't agree more. OS X kills Windows, but Apple has largely kept it hidden in their advertisements. None of the ad campaigns since OS X was released have highlighted the user experience at all. First they threw people in front of a white background and they ramble on about what they do, show an Apple logo...um, ok. Then they come out with the Apple equivalent of anti-smoking ads that do more to encourage people to want to do the opposite of the commercials. "Wow. That Apple dude really seems smug, and kind of reminds me of those douchebags who [whatever]...The PC character is hilarious though." Supposedly the UK version suffers from the same problem, where the Apple character is associated with a jerky character from another TV show. 7 years of these advertisements, and all people know about Macs are the type of people who apparently use them (the most recent one being the most damaging). I think they could have done better than 10% market share when they've dominated the portable music market for years, when people have absolutely hated Vista. We don't expect that because they've historically been at a low percentage, but they've never been in a better position to win over customers. If the public takes to Windows 7 fairly well, then they really blew a 2 year opportunity to draw in a lot of new people.

 

[kastenbrust]

Apples playing a dangerous game, they want to grow sales obviously, but they want to keep their maket share less than 20%, for competition reasons, and so as you said they stay the "underdog", as this ironically helps them sell more. Apples more concerned with retention of existing sales rather than generating new ones, thats the reason for them keeping their prices so high, which many people complain is "Apple Tax".

A lot of people forget Apple is a shareholder owned company, and by law their allegance stands with the shareholders, the pure reason for Apples existance is to make money for the shareholders, and everyone else, including us the customers comes after that, thats why I always laugh when people moan at Apple or complain about their prices as if Apple actually cares.

 

[poxonyou]

You'd rather watch someone plugging in a firewire drive and clicking on time machine than watch this?

I think the ad they made would get a lot more attention than showing someone clicking on things.

Showing it off in the store is a great place to demo software. Seeing and using Time Machine in person is great. Watching someone do it on TV? Boring.

It doesn't translate to anything in the mind of the viewer though. Most viewers will not know what to connect this to since they are unaware of the look and feel of OS X. Also, part of their time watching that is spent thinking, "I really like the PC guy more than that smug Apple dude."

 

[poxonyou]

Hmm, Apple should of put Psystar out of business by now. However they haven't. This means a couple of things. First, Psystar has a case: If Apple controls both the hardware and software in their computers then technically they have a monopoly. Back in the Power PC days no one bothered with challenging this because Apple was considered a niche player. Apple is no longer a niche player and the fact that they now use common Intel processors opens them up to being cloned. I'm personally all in favor of the clones. Apple neglects their Pro/desktop market. Fixed pricing on outdated hardware is their greatest sin. Eliminating key hardware like firewire and Blu-ray is pretty severe as well. I'm willing to pay a premium for the software but not so much for the hardware.

I feel the same way at this point. They went from having way too many models before Steve Jobs arrived, to not having enough and not current enough. There is a middle ground here.

 

[Tallest Skil]

I sure hope so. At the current rate, BRD will be obsolete before Apple upgrades DVDSP. This is very disturbing.

And FWIW, MicroSoft seems to have done well financially by concentrating on software.

Blu-ray will be around for about another six years, you know.

 

[way2l84sanity]

Bad idea. Who the crap cares about iLife and iWork enough to necessitate entire sections of an apple store? The Apple Store needs to focus more on the variability of software available to the Mac. If I were to go in there expecting to switch from a PC, and all I saw were TWO PIECES OF SOFTWARE available, I'd refuse to switch. Apple needs to show the market that there is such a wide array of software from third party vendors and from Apple to fill almost all niches of computer life.

I think most switchers coming from Windows would be amazed to see iLife, OS X in action with a highlight on how the work together. I have recently helped a friend set up an ipod using vista. What a pain every time you do something vista makes sure you want to by asking to click yes I do want to do this action. When you Buy a cheap pc you get a very cheap pc and still have to buy extra software to do the things you can do with iLife. plus you left with using one of 7-8 versions (basic, home, ect) of an os and not one of them is as rock solid as the OS X tiger I am still using.

I agree apple needs to highlight 3rd party software, especially with Apple pulling out of Mac World, and the future of Mac world is uncertain. Didn't an Apple Executive say that they have a mac world every day at the Apple store. I wonder (hope) if Apple will set up some kind of app store for 3rd party dev inside the apple retail stores, much like the app store for the iPhone. Where apple gets 30% and the dev gets 70% and they do a way with boxed software it becomes al downloads. I think this help sale more mac and software. Maybe apple would have developer days where the developer would be invited to come and do demos at different apple retail stores, showing what their software can do. 🙄

 

[slu]

Apples playing a dangerous game, they want to grow sales obviously, but they want to keep their maket share less than 20%, for competition reasons, and so as you said they stay the "underdog", as this ironically helps them sell more. Apples more concerned with retention of existing sales rather than generating new ones, thats the reason for them keeping their prices so high, which many people complain is "Apple Tax".

A lot of people forget Apple is a shareholder owned company, and by law their allegance stands with the shareholders, the pure reason for Apples existance is to make money for the shareholders, and everyone else, including us the customers comes after that, thats why I always laugh when people moan at Apple or complain about their prices as if Apple actually cares.

I don't understand the first paragraph of your post. What are the competition reasons for keeping market share under 20%? And being the underdog helps them sell more? How so? And how does keeping prices high retain existing customers?

I agree with your second paragraph, which is mainly why I don't understand the first one. Apple is in the business of delivering value for shareholders. Shareholders expect growth. You don't obtain growth by intentionally keeping your market share small. If Apple could get to 50% market share and still continue to make the margins they do, they certainly would. The whole point of re-organizing the stores is to highlight the software for switchers. If that is not an obvious attempt to grow market share, then I don't know what is.

 

[seedster2]

Attractive hardware is probably the most enticing quality of Macs that lure potential switchers into the store.

I personally only switched for OS X and recommendation from users who claimed specific post production software was more stable on a OS X. Apple software like iLife and iWork are inadequate in my eyes and I still use the MS alternatives.

Biggest reason for Mac success is the switch to Intel. They can now run windows natively so people don't need two computers to run specific Windows only software and people can do comparisons spec wise. Believe it or not people care about price and look through BB and JR circulars to compare prices and specs.

 

[RebootD]

Attractive hardware is probably the most enticing quality of Macs that lure potential switchers into the store.

It was, but now that consumers can see it has the same specs as windows machines you have to differentiate beyond "ours looks nicer" and that seems to be what they are doing. Microsoft was forced to not bundle software and so Apple bundles more.

I personally only switched for OS X and recommendation from users who claimed specific post production software was more stable on a OS X. Apple software like iLife and iWork are inadequate in my eyes and I still use the MS alternatives.

While I agree on the iSuites but a lot of consumers love them and use them regularly. In fact the only reason some of us stay with Apple is for the OS alone these days. The hardware is shamefully outdated.

 

[kastenbrust]

I don't understand the first paragraph of your post. What are the competition reasons for keeping market share under 20%? And being the underdog helps them sell more? How so? And how does keeping prices high retain existing customers?

I agree with your second paragraph, which is mainly why I don't understand the first one. Apple is in the business of delivering value for shareholders. Shareholders expect growth. You don't obtain growth by intentionally keeping your market share small. If Apple could get to 50% market share and still continue to make the margins they do, they certainly would. The whole point of re-organizing the stores is to highlight the software for switchers. If that is not an obvious attempt to grow market share, then I don't know what is.

They can flaunt competition laws as long as their market share is under 20%

Remember Microsoft Media Player, $400 Million fine for flaunting competition rules, simply for being too big, and now Microsoft Internet Explorer, another record fine about to happen.

 

[RebootD]

If Apple could get to 50% market share and still continue to make the margins they do, they certainly would. The whole point of re-organizing the stores is to highlight the software for switchers. If that is not an obvious attempt to grow market share, then I don't know what is.

Exactly. While I agree they don't want to overcome and inherit the mess Microsoft has being at the top (restrictions on software bundling, EU fines etc, Hackers gunning for you) but to say they don't want anymore than the share they have now is just ignorant. Why wouldn't they want to gain up to 50%+ share when they can shift to software more to sell more apps to their larger share?

 

[johng2222]

Apple, get real...

I buy, and my friends and co-workers buy, personal computers only every so often... We're not Apple fanatics. We buy Apple (if we buy) because we're just weary of all the things we have to do to live with our work PCs and, frankly, want to give the other guy (Apple) a chance. Thing is, it's been an embarrassment for years to go into any store, like Best Buy, and have some nice looking but "dumb" Apple PC to look at... Just look at it, that's all. Why? Because there's so little software of any kind on the damn things! Yeah, good once you take it home and it's a clean disk, but sucks when you're in the store and just want to do something, anything, with the nice looking laptop or iMac that just sits there like a blank slate. I personally know of several perfectly good sales opportunities lost recently because friends "looked" at the Apple offering and then walked down the mall to buy a PC "that does the same stuff." TRUE, as far as they could tell... So, you go Apple - sell the rest of the damn barrel!!!

 

[jpine]

Do you mean BD - Blu-ray Disc? Or is BRD something new?

Yes BD=Blu-ray Disk. I have no idea why I typed BRD.

 

[jpine]

Blu-ray will be around for about another six years, you know.

I know. My point was Apple has not updated DVDSP in ages and gives every indication that it is not interested in optical media. The problem is that my clients are interested and will continue to be interested in optical media for years to come. At least another six years. 😛 I guess SJ has lived in the land of broadband for so long that he does not realize a good portion of the US still has one option: dialup. I may have the luxury of 20 Mbs FIOS here in CA, but my sister in rural Missouri has to pay for a Kansas City line ($30.00/month) just so she can connect to $10.00/month dialup ISP.

 

[SandynJosh]

Hahaha...I'm seeing a lot of comments about Apple hardware being outdated.

Other than the MacPro, outdated to who?

Apple's freshest products are laptops, the booming part of the computer market. Since laptops are pricier than a similar desktop, and are continuing to remain hot, they are more recession proof then desktops.

The companies that are successful today are those that have clearly identified their markets and are positioned to skim the most cream from those markets.

HP and Apple are skimming the most cream from the richest segment of the laptop market. Those that are bottom-feeders in the laptop market struggle against the no-name Asian offerings and the netbooks where brand loyalty and profit margins are almost non-existent.

I read here, on this forum, that some posters feel Apple should throw some kind of "me-too" product into that cat fight. Why, so they can struggle to not lose their shirts like Dell?

Apple has a totally adequate product in the current MacPro, not a superior product, but completely adequate. It is still a powerhouse in the video editing and music industries for it's ease of use and adequate power. With a quad core processor and the new Snow Leopard it will be light years ahead of anything Vista or Seven driven.

I think Apple has been doing the ground work for making a huge leap into a tablet-type product. With the MBA they have established that they can make very light weight portable products with home-made thin batteries. With the iPhone and iTouch they have proven that their design ideas for multitouch are well founded, patent-protected, and market-accepted. With iTunes, they have built up a huge captive-market software delivery platform.

Does anyone remember that Microsoft has had a tablet on the market for years? Hello? Anyone? It seems to me that the hardware alone does not propel a buyer to flash their credit card. So now Apple is redesigning their stores to promote software solutions over hardware, and everyone is thinking it's all about for their current hardware. Anyone thought that they are moving another big chunk into place to pounce into the a new market, such as the tablet market?

Imagine a marriage of the Air's light weight, iTouch (or maybe iPhone), iTunes, MobileMe iDisk file sharing, and totally redesigned stores to launch a tablet-type product that is highly portable, easily conversant with other computers, AND which could be taken to the desk (where the old iMac once reigned) and propped up onto an adjustable dock where it becomes the new iMac with wireless keyboard/touchpad.

Since the dock could contain the iTV/MiniMac and Airport, Apple gets to essentially introduce a new product category and upgrade their iMac and MiniMac at the same time they make the current mouse operated brand X products passé.

So, back to the opening question: Outdated to who?

Only outdated to the Apple fans who don't want to buy today because they don't want to buy until they KNOW what the next great thing is going to be.

🙄

Patience, young grasshopper.

 

[Eric S.]

Hahaha...I'm seeing a lot of comments about Apple hardware being outdated.

Other than the MacPro, outdated to who?

Anyone who has a Core i7 product. Or a quad-core Penryn laptop.

 

[kurosov]

Since the dock could contain the iTV/MiniMac and Airport, Apple gets to essentially introduce a new product category and upgrade their iMac and MiniMac at the same time they make the current mouse operated brand X products passé.

Pretty sure a tablet without its wifi built into the device itself is useless. The idea is to use it as a completely wireless solution, anywhere.

If apple did release a tablet i can see them getting back to basics on what a tablet is supposed to be instead of making it immitate another device such as a laptop.

- 10"-13" multi-touch screen with stylus and finger touch (stylus for use in design)
- no optical drive
- no keyboard
- 4 or so usb ports & possibly firewire
- solid state drives
- built in wifi & bluetooth

Basically a low power, no moving part, easy to carry wireless stand-alone device. Nothing else is needed in a tablet as a laptop will be a better solution to anybody who needs them.

I for one would buy such a tablet if it became available.

 

[poxonyou]

Anyone who has a Core i7 product. Or a quad-core Penryn laptop.

Apple has fallen behind, perhaps purposefully to earn greater profits off their 10% market share. They're taking advantage of average consumers who just assume equally priced hardware offers the same power (or higher priced Macs mean they're more powerful), as well as past Mac users who are going to be less likely to switch to Windows despite knowing they're being ripped off.

People paid more before the Intel switch because Apple could argue their IBM Gx processors were more powerful than the Intel's. I remember everyone in our computer lab getting excited when G4's and G5's were brought in because we all felt these were better than the Intel's, and better looking the PC's in our lab, though a bit pricier.

I don't know how much longer Apple can keep this game up. People are waking up to the fact Apple is offering older/slower specs at higher, often much higher, prices than PC manufacturers. They're getting slower with their refreshes and incorporating new technology (Blu-Ray). 😡 And now you can run OS X fully compatible on the right PC (check insanelymac forums).

 

[gnasher729]

does anyone else wonder is this is an indication that apple thinks that it will lose in it's court action with Psystar? If they are forced to allow clones, a reinvention to focus on software would be a necessity.

You are making some very strange connections here. Outside of MacRumors, nobody has ever heard of Psystar. And what makes you think there is any chance of Apple losing their case? I predict the same outcome as SCO vs. Novell and IBM: Chapter 7 on the day before the court presents its final decision 😱

Hmm, Apple should of put Psystar out of business by now. However they haven't. This means a couple of things. First, Psystar has a case: If Apple controls both the hardware and software in their computers then technically they have a monopoly.

The reason why Apple hasn't put Psystar out of business is that US courts are so bloody slow. Court date is set for November 2009. There is not even a theoretical possibility for Apple to put Psystar out of business before the court date. Look, in SCO vs. IBM it took IBM four years just to force SCO to tell them what they were accusing IBM of! (To explain: SCO claims: IBM stole our software. IBM says: Exactly what software are we supposed to have stolen? SCO: You must know, because you stole it! ... Four years later: SCO _claims_ without any evidence that IBM stole about 300 lines of code, supposedly worth $5bn. This is only possible in the USA). Second: The court has already decided that Apple has no monopoly whatsoever, and that Psystar hasn't even given any reasonable argument why Apple might have a monopoly, much less any evidence. So much about "technically they have a monopoly".

For example, at the time Apple opened up the iTunes store it seemed to be an attempt to get people to buy music when most were ripping off CDs illegally.

What would be illegal about ripping your CDs?

 

[Sky Blue]

Not sure if there's more redesign to come, but i swung by my local apple store today and they had a lot of ilife/iwork stuff up that wasn't there last week.
Might be more coming up not that different from before.

 

[poxonyou]

I know. My point was Apple has not updated DVDSP in ages and gives every indication that it is not interested in optical media. The problem is that my clients are interested and will continue to be interested in optical media for years to come. At least another six years. 😛 I guess SJ has lived in the land of broadband for so long that he does not realize a good portion of the US still has one option: dialup. I may have the luxury of 20 Mbs FIOS here in CA, but my sister in rural Missouri has to pay for a Kansas City line ($30.00/month) just so she can connect to $10.00/month dialup ISP.

It's shortsighted if they're not adding Blu-Ray because of digital downloads. Digital downloads cannot compete with the quality of Blu-Ray movies (<2GB data vs 50GB data for same movie). DD movies may be more convenient for some, like someone who wants to also watch movies on their iPod, but now that every PC manufacturer is offering Blu-Ray drives, and people are being forced to switch to high definition TVs, they're going to notice this missing in Macs. Because some people may be completely clueless about all technology, which I think is far fewer people than some apologists here like to believe, does not justify this at all. What happens when that customer does realize they paid way more for a lot less? Think they'll be happy with Apple?

 

[RebootD]

Only outdated to the Apple fans who don't want to buy today because they don't want to buy until they KNOW what the next great thing is going to be.

🙄

Patience, young grasshopper.

You mean any Apple fan who wants to pay market price for hardware that is over a year old (iMac) and 2 years old (mac mini)??

Oh and I can roll my eyes too! 🙄🙄🙄

 

[226896]

I went to my local Apple Store today and it had changed. All the illuminated banners on the walls were to do with App Store, iLife and iWork. I asked a 'genius' about it, and he didn't know anything about Apple focusing more on software in their stores, he just said they were new banners. Retail drones aye...

 

[Macole]

Eventually Apple will become a software company with products like iLife & i Work .. even an alternative OS like OS X .
Many of us would die to see Leopard Snow to custom built Computers with decent hardware .

Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all 🙄

 

[gkarris]

It's shortsighted if they're not adding Blu-Ray because of digital downloads. Digital downloads cannot compete with the quality of Blu-Ray movies (<2GB data vs 50GB data for same movie). DD movies may be more convenient for some, like someone who wants to also watch movies on their iPod, but now that every PC manufacturer is offering Blu-Ray drives, and people are being forced to switch to high definition TVs, they're going to notice this missing in Macs. Because some people may be completely clueless about all technology, which I think is far fewer people than some apologists here like to believe, does not justify this at all. What happens when that customer does realize they paid way more for a lot less? Think they'll be happy with Apple?

Apple has sided with Digital Downloads rather than Physical Media (optical discs) as far as the latest format war.

Their "support" of DVD (which I hear is no longer even featured in iLife) is left-over from the 90's...