Apple Retail's Emphasis on Profits Continues, Tied to Operational Perspective of Cook and Browett

[macMD]

I can say that my experiences with the local Apple store in my area clearly show a focus on profit over customer satisfaction. It took me 30 minutes to complete a simple transaction. I just needed to buy an iPad along with AppleCare+ with it. So I opted to hit up the Apple store to get them together. Once checked in 25 minutes to actually get help from an associate and then another 5 minutes to actually check out. Really I could have gone to Best Buy or Verizon and picked it up in 5 minutes.

Apple makes solid hardware but you can't rely on that alone if the customer experience in getting the hardware is a PITA. Cutting staff, how about cutting some of the executive bonuses instead.

 

[Rogifan]

indeed, i was shocked to see how long the new iPad takes to charge and its heating issues and yep "steve was way too OCD to let something like this happen" and dont even get me started on their new Smart Case. something seems def. off

Oh please Steve wasn't perfect. Plenty of ****** happened on his watch. The ill fated Cube, iPhone 4 antenna issues, MobileMe just to name a very few. Oh and pull up the thread here from when the new unibody MacBooks were announced. Nobody was happy, especially with the glossy screens. That happened on Steve's watch. Apple's increased focus on mobile products over PC's happened on Steve's watch.

 

[Alchemist]

I feared JUST this sort of thing when Cook hired Browett. His background summed it up. Gutted to see I'm being proved correct, despite Tim's reassurances.

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/01/tim-cook-on-new-retail-chief-john-browett-the-best-by-far/

 

[jclardy]

I really hope Apple doesn't screw up their retail stores.

I always thought of the Apple store as just part of the experience of owning an Apple product. More like a showroom than an actual store, most people come to look again and again till they finally decide to take the plunge.

And for customers you go to get your stuff fixed or learn how to do something.

I don't really think you can keep this experience if you are focused on profits. And I don't think Apple really needs to be focused on profits with all their cash in the bank, they need to focus on gaining and keeping customers.

 

[Blakjack]

Theres a lack of confidence showing and it looks like its in their ability to maintain a strong enough brand that appeals to consumers in the way it did when Jobs ran the company.

When a company makes a whole bunch of money, I assume what happens is that people who matter begin to pressure that company into protecting its load of cash. They begin to to take precautionary measures that arent proconsumer. I feel like this pressure has probably been on since Jobs was there, but he had the balls to say NO! Now that hes gone, that pressure has turned up a couple of notches.

 

[herbapou]

I H A T E that guy. Typical corpo freak piece of garbage that will try to improve the operation numbers at any cost so he can look good.

I have seen this kind of human trash in big companies many times. Typical "peter principal" case.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

So the news tidbit here is that a for profit company is focused on making additional profits?

I'm not sure what is the most peculiar thing about this. The fact that such a revelation is considered newsworthy or the fact that someone is surprised by it.

 

[nick_elt]

If it aint broke, don't fix it. its a slippery slope to the bottom.

----------

So the news tidbit here is that a for profit company is focused on making additional profits?

I'm not sure what is the most peculiar thing about this. The fact that such a revelation is considered newsworthy or the fact that someone is surprised by it.

Its the fact that they are taking profits from the customer experience, this is not the Apple way.

 

[Sora]

This could either be overblown and way out of proportion to reality or it could be just the tip of the iceberg and probably much worse than reported.

The truth lies somewhere between these extremes.

 

[carmenodie]

In my estimation most of you are correct. Corporations have evolved to care only about this quarter and this year and their on stock price. Customers are just the cattle that eat too much before they can be turned into profit.

Apple stores were the exception because they (at least) appeared to want to provide customer satisfaction and promote loyalty which they did. The converted me, a long time IBM'er, over to Apple products because of their apparent caring about customers....unlike MS which has long been mismanaged. Unlike the competitors like Dell and HP who produce crap hardware for cheap prices.

Unfortunately I see my fellow Auburn alumnus and south Alabama native, Tim Cook, falling prey to the current corporate fab of screw the customer and maximize short term gains. I want to be wrong but corporations have long ago given up measuring CEO's by whether they leave the company better off than the found it and measure them by this quarters and years results.

This is Wall Street at work and it's the same bull crap that moved American jobs out of America...thanks Tim...and sunk this ship.

I agree. And so I hate it when folks blame Obama for not getting them a job. The GDP will be about 16 trillion!!!!! That is amazing. So where are the so called jobs? Ask the private sector why they are being so stingy when the GDP of 2012 is greater than any GDP during the bubble!!!! They don't sit around trying to find was to hire people. They want profits! And that is all the care about!
8.2% unemployment? Ha!
They could care less baby. They're sitting on no less than 2.3 trillion over seas.and that cash hoard is growing.
Oh they' ll hire again if we rigg the housing and credit markets again. Us poe foke gotta go into debt before they do anything.
SMMFH!

 

[Krazy Bill]

Holy crap. Listen to all the whining here. (And how quickly the Apple fans turn on their masters)

Good for Cook. It's about time Apple unveils the profit motive and shows his true colors. Maybe Apple will start acting like a real company and actually "fear" us consumers (and our wallets) for a change. Being on top requires you to "stay" on top and now... everyone will know what the "top" means to them ($$).

Personally, I'm tired of seeing Apple being portrayed as the halo-wearing bastions of the poor little consumer. They never were. Never will be.

To anyone that has ever thought otherwise I say... "duh".

 

[alent1234]

I can say that my experiences with the local Apple store in my area clearly show a focus on profit over customer satisfaction. It took me 30 minutes to complete a simple transaction. I just needed to buy an iPad along with AppleCare+ with it. So I opted to hit up the Apple store to get them together. Once checked in 25 minutes to actually get help from an associate and then another 5 minutes to actually check out. Really I could have gone to Best Buy or Verizon and picked it up in 5 minutes.

Apple makes solid hardware but you can't rely on that alone if the customer experience in getting the hardware is a PITA. Cutting staff, how about cutting some of the executive bonuses instead.

when i was doing a store pickup for a Macbook last year i realized that apple stores are just a snobby circuit city or one of the old catalog stores from decades ago.

i had to wait 20 minutes to pick up an online order while there was a counter full of new mac's. they had to get mine from the vault

try to avoid the apple store from now on

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Boy I miss Steve right now. I have tears running down my face as I post this.

 

[gertruded]

All humans and human organizations have life cycles. Countries and corporations included. Apple is no exception.

They are born, they thrive, and then they die. Why would Apple be any different than Wang, Kodak, Zerox, HP, Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft, or the many others.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

All humans and human organizations have life cycles. Countries and corporations included. Apple is no exception.

They are born, they thrive, and then they die. Why would Apple be any different than Wang, Kodak, Zerox, HP, Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft, or the many others.

Oooh the drama!!!!!! Seriously, overreaction, just a touch, don't you think? I've yet to see Apple post sequentially declining profits like the companies you listed did when they started their decline. Also, the reasons those companies lost their footing was because they didn't react to changing times or technology. Apple is adjusting the way it views its stores, from more of the original concept as a company showcase to now, a profit center.

 

[CausticPuppy]

With all the quality control issues with the retina iPad and Macbook Pros, it was already blatantly obvious that Apple are all about the $$$ now.

Yeah, Apple has never had quality control issues until now.

 

[dampfnudel]

Steve was the counterweight to Tim. They worked well together keeping each other in check. Now that counterweight is gone and making profits has a much higher priority at Apple than before. Customer satisfaction is still high, but for how long? You see what happened to Best Buy. Years ago, SONY was the brand to get for style and quality. Years ago, when you wanted a PC, it was most likely a DELL that you purchased.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

As if they aren't already making a boat load of money on their stuff. Heck, it's their store, they aren't paying a middleman to sell their stuff. (Apple does manage and run their Apple Stores, right?)

If anything, to boost profit, ditch the full product line 'Apple in a box' kiosk idea, and maybe trim executive salaries?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Yeah, Apple has never had quality control issues until now.

Design flaws, plenty, but quality control issues are definitely more prevalent now then they have been in the past.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Design flaws, plenty, but quality control issues are definitely more prevalent now then they have been in the past.

Well, yes and no. I think they aren't that they are more numerous as much as those that there are get a lot more reporting than they used to...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

With all the quality control issues with the retina iPad and Macbook Pros, it was already blatantly obvious that Apple are all about the $$$ now.

The production of their products has been ramped up so much by Cook that the quality of the products is suffering. No doubt the next iPhone will be met by various build issues.

OK, when has Apple not been about the $$$? The original Lisa was $10K. A Mac SE in 1988 was $2500, nearly double the price of a DOS PC. The original iPod was $499. Nearly every product Apple has ever made...ever...has had a price premium to it's nearest competitor.

And on quality, do you not remember the exploding 5300 PowerBooks in the mid 90s? Or all the video issues with the iMacs and PBs in the mid 00's? Or the OS X update that caused a FW hard drive to erase itself? Quality control helps to reduce problems, but never, eliminates them. I don't know of any company with a 0% defect rate. Do you?

 

[koban4max]

What I like most about apple is their customer service and they never question if something needs to be replaced. They are pretty good when you call customer service about a problem as well. This is the main reason I don't mind paying a higher cost than competitors because I know I am getting top customer service and products that just work.


Putting profits first is never a good idea, look at companies like Wal Mart, Best Buy, AT&T all are profit first and give customers the finger (yes I know they make billions but that's not all business should be about). I'm all for profit but that will come when you focus on customers and making good products. They became the most valuable company using this model why change?

Greed is a bad thing, very bad for individual people and society as a whole.

Either case, you will still support them.

 

[nick_elt]

Holy crap. Listen to all the whining here. (And how quickly the Apple fans turn on their masters)

Good for Cook. It's about time Apple unveils the profit motive and shows his true colors. Maybe Apple will start acting like a real company and actually "fear" us consumers (and our wallets) for a change. Being on top requires you to "stay" on top and now... everyone will know what the "top" means to them ($$).

Personally, I'm tired of seeing Apple being portrayed as the halo-wearing bastions of the poor little consumer. They never were. Never will be.

To anyone that has ever thought otherwise I say... "duh".

Their "masters???" really?
Apple fearing their customers? quite the opposite, I like Apple, but I dont like how they take us for granted.

 

[dvoros]

changes at Apple

Wow....this is exactly what I feared would happen with Steve gone. Is it possible that due to Cook's drive for more profits that the upcoming new iPhone will not change much because of the expense? This is a critical time for Apple. Show us what you got, minus Steve Jobs, and either wow us or move aside.

 

[3282868]

A king has his reign, and then he dies. It's inevitable.

So it begins [sadly]