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Microsoft Planning 75 New Retail Stores to Take on Apple

The missing sauce IMO is I don't find anything compelling about a MS store. Make the store compelling and it will be successful. I'm ready to build a new PC but can the MS store compete with NewEgg and everybody else out there?
 
I am curious about their retail financials, because based on the lack of traffic I see in the Microsoft Store in my neck of the woods I have to believe they have problems even making the rent much less paying their employees and paying off the capital costs of transforming the mall space. At any given time there are literally 1/10th as many people in the MS store, and I never see anyone buying anything (not once). I almost went in there to by Office for Mac just to see how the experience went! M$ is big, so if the stores are loss leaders maybe that's OK... but it just seems like a stupid strategy to me. Trying so desperately to be cool like Apple is... uncool, especially when they could divert that money to producing a better operating system, a better phone, or improving the very successful Xbox.
 
The Economist said:
It's been a while since they (Microsoft) first opened their revolutionary and innovative retail stores. They didn't only copy Apple's stores design, but they also copied the formula in every possible way. (Just look at some pictures of their stores to see what I mean)

I found it ridiculous back then, and I still do to this day.

Just another "me too" strategy from Microsoft.
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So what should MSFT be doing other then DIE MSFT DIE???? 🙄🙄
 
I wonder if Apple will sue, claiming Microsoft stole their intellectual property with the retail store...😀

All kidding aside, competition is healthy for the computing industry, as we hear every day. While I'd love for Microsoft to not aesthetically mimic Apple's stores and go for a more contemporary modern look (maybe steel desks instead of wood ones and the interior design look more mechanical, just a thought) as to distinguish themselves from Apple. I've seen pictures of Microsoft's stores and it looks pretty inviting. I could really care less on who pioneered the idea first or who succeeds with it best. Bottom line is Microsoft's got loads of cash to spend and big products coming up in late '11 and into '12 (WP7 Mango x next-gen phones, Windows 8 computers and tablets) as well as their entire Xbox experience, which should bring customers in.

Apple need not be concerned, as their upcoming iPhone, MBA & Mini refreshes as well as the MBP will keep the folks a-comin'.
 
Money ≠ Intelligence

Opening retail stores will not make Windows run any better. Of course, they will have long lines; of people with broken operating systems.

Windows has so many viruses, you have to handle the computers with surgical gloves and mask.

They thought they could copy Apple and make a good mp3 player. That didn't work. Now they think they can copy Apple's retail success, glad I don't have Microsoft stock anymore.

Can you say nosedive.
 
Not all "rivalries" created equal

"the company's new retail push seems indicate that it is intent on establishing a retail rivalry with Apple."

One needs a certain standing for the concept of a "rivalry" to make sense - for instance, I could announce that I'm establishing a boxing rivalry between myself and Manny Pacquiao, but I doubt I'll even get a punch in the head for my trouble...
 
Blu Reel said:
The battery in my MacBook Pro 17" began to show signs of the expanding battery problem. My laptop was out of warranty by a couple of years so I just let it go. It eventually expanded to the point of separating the battery case into pieces. It basically opened the sealed case. I brought the battery in to the Genius Bar and the guy gave me a replacement battery free of charge.

I was happily surprised.
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i had this exact same problem on my last MBP, the people at the genius bar played dumb, i found tons of pic on the internet of it happening to other people, still they refused to honor it on apple care. Ended up paying for it out of pocket, then getting rid of the laptop 3 months later.
 
How did apple succeed? they stopped copying others and did there own thing and now apple is where it is today, Microsoft used to be an innovative company now, they just copy apple. The future doesn't look to good for microsoft unless they get there act together and get rid of that ******* Balmer as there CEO 🙄 You can't cheat your way to success you gotta be unique (APPLE!)
 
Looking forward to their big ZUNE displays with employees squirting each other. Or what did they call it when you could send something to the other Zune user you meet on a bus?
 
Agree, there are clearly a lot of fan boy responses. I think Microsoft Windows is a pretty great OS, It's not Windows fault there are so many noobs who don't know how to use it.. =/

Anyway without Windows we wouldn't be so far, PC's & Microsoft are always a step ahead in terms of hardware & new technologies, there is support for DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.0, Crossfire & SLI (dual & quad gpu) technologies, even hybrid crossfire which means you can mismatch video cards.. Just recently AMD announced APU's, which is an accelerated processing unit.. And well Apple has none of the above, they don't even have support for OpenGL 4.0 yet..

With Mac OS there is no scaling when using dual GPU.. you can only hook up multiple monitors, thats nothing =/.. Where as on the Windows side you can hook multiple graphics cards and typically get double the performance.. and not only that you can hook up to 12 displays..
 
So yesterday they proclaim that no Win Mo on tablets because tablets are PCs and we still believe in Windows everywhere, except of phone OS. 🙄

Today they announce they're going to throw away more shareholder's money at a losing venture. Microsoft just isn't cool and I bet teens won't even go in to use their computers. 🙄

I think it's time they look for a new CEO, from outside the company.
 
2 Microsoft stores on the same island in Hawaii but no stores in Iowa. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
 
Well it sounds like there will be one close by in Indianapolis. The only retail electronics stores worth going to are Fry's Electronics or Microcenter though.
 
4look4rd said:
I've only had terrible experiences with the "Genius Bar." I brought my iMac there because the hard drive had failed after about a year of use and they spent about 3 hours trying to diagnose the problem. Then they wanted $400 dollars to replace a 250GB harddrive. That was the last time I went to the Apple Store for anything other than just killing time at the mall.

Good look with the Windows Store. I would love to see another computer store here in Richmond.
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yeah, sometimes you do have to argue with them. Personally, I have had great experiences. They replaced my Macbook Pro with the newer model after it had multiple issues before the first year was up and replaced my iPhone 4 after the battery stopped holding a charge.
 
Skika said:
Microsoft doesnt even sale hardware ??!?

(excluding xbox, peripherals etc...)

They should really focus on their "app store" equivalent.
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I was thinking the same thing. I think the reason the Apple Store works for Apple, is because they sell physical product. More importantly, the profit nicely from each sale of those physical products. Even if MS is able to create nice sales traffic, they're going to have to share their profits with hardware manufacturers.

Apart from the Xbox360 (and keyboards and mice and webcams), MS is a software company. And software seems to be shifting towards online distribution. So yeah, why would they be pushing in the other direction and trying to shill software at a brick and mortar? Nobody is really going to care about going into a store with shelves lined with Windows 7 or 8 boxes. Nobody would go into the Apple Store if all they had were OS X, iWork and iLife.

MS might want to make sure they don't copy Sony...who IMO is much better positioned than they are to open up their own store. Sony sells plenty of hardware--game consoles, TV's, computers, phones, cameras, ebook readers.. And much of it is pretty high end and nicely designed (hardware-wise, at least). Yet, they are weak on the "full package". That and other intangibles prevent their relatively high prices from being as palatable as Apple's.

MS is starting with less than Sony (i.e. stuff to sell profitably), and still has to avoid Sony's (and its own) mistakes while trying to emulate Apple.
 
what the heck?

What the heck are they going to sell? Antivirus boxes?🙂
This whole idea of M$ stores is just childish copying: we're doing it because somebody else is doing it, but we don't really know why.

Anyway, it's M$ way.. Copying will do..
 
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