In all honesty the buying experience at target is nothing like sexy or great. Even if phone/pad would cost the same as in the Apple Store or Online, I would rather have a good buying experience than a bad one.... You dont buy Mercedes Benz in budget-store. You dont buy shiny-Apple-branded gadgets in Target !
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Sales of Apple Products Down 20% at Target
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In all honesty the buying experience at target is nothing like sexy or great. Even if phone/pad would cost the same as in the Apple Store or Online, I would rather have a good buying experience than a bad one.... You dont buy Mercedes Benz in budget-store. You dont buy shiny-Apple-branded gadgets in Target !
Tim Cook himself is a slap in the face - to ANY hard-working Apple employee that has at least a glimpse of creativity or innovative idea left in his mind...
They are at least TRYING to do something new! Most of it is bad, only some of it is good, but they are not afraid of trying out new things that might eventually fail. And that's exactly how it should be!
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As someone who is fortunate enough to be able to get a new iPhone every year, I've already decided to skip the 2016 iPhone. It seems like Apple releases new hardware every year, but then the software doesn't really take advantage until the next year. Think iPad Air 2 and iOS 9 split-screen (finally, a year later, that 2GB of RAM was considered a feature). TouchID wasn't that useful until Apple Pay a year later. 3D touch was a confusing choice over a long-press until iOS 10 gave it more weight. Even using my Apple Watch doesn't feel quite useful enough, but WatchOS 3 promises to make it feel like April 2015 all over again (but this time it's way, way better).
To put it short, I'm tired of paying this year's prices for next year's features. My 6S Plus will get so much better with iOS 10. I also use my headphone jack daily, to plug into my dance studio's speakers, and yes I use Bluetooth headphones but with five teachers on the floor they don't want to deal with pairing or switching adapters when they want to play a song off of their students' phones!
If I'm really, really aching for a new and interesting phone, I'll spend the money I put aside on a Note 7, with the expectation that I'll only use it for a year until the 2017 iPhone... which is supposed to be second-coming or something (OLED, wireless charging, faster charging in general... Oh I really hope so).
In the meantime, Apple knows everyone is thinking of Android this year, and they are doing their best with Continuity and Handoff in MacOS Sierra and watchOS to make us really, really miss the Apple ecosystem if we were to switch... even for just a year. Apple Music on Android is a mess on purpose (and only less so on iPhone). Fortunately Spotify will do just fine (I already subscribe to both). Google Photos can supersede iCloud Photos (I currently use both on my iPhone, so it will be a pretty seamless switch). And I pay for both Dropbox and iCloud Drive and you know which one we all prefer. But iMessage... Oh my goodness what will I do without iMessage? It's easy to see why Apple never followed through with Job's promise to make iMessage/FaceTime cross platform. I'm way too attached to seamlessly moving from my Mac to my iPad to my Watch to communicate with my students. I have Android friends and sending them videos through Facebook messenger feels so... wrong. I wish SMS/MMS would get it's act together.
If I switch to Android now, I'd better do it fast, like a band-aid, before I get too attached to all the new features of MacOS Sierra and iOS 10, like cloud-desktop file access... And I should DEFINITELY switch before I let iCloud take my files off my computer and into the cloud!
Kinda makes you think... What if Apple has decided that buying new gadgets every year is bad for the environment, and they're actually doing this on purpose to slow down our habit of filling landfills with one-year-old devices. The AppleCare on my 2013 MacBook Pro is about to expire, which makes it the longest I've ever kept a MacBook without reselling it for a better model. My 2011 headless Mac mini is still running strong. My iPad was released in 2014, and I see no reason to replace it. The only thing I'm planning to buy this year is the Apple Watch 2, but I'm holding off in case I switch to Android and in any case Apple might not release Apple Watch 2 until 2017. Apple might be saving me money on purpose!
To put it short, I'm tired of paying this year's prices for next year's features. My 6S Plus will get so much better with iOS 10. I also use my headphone jack daily, to plug into my dance studio's speakers, and yes I use Bluetooth headphones but with five teachers on the floor they don't want to deal with pairing or switching adapters when they want to play a song off of their students' phones!
If I'm really, really aching for a new and interesting phone, I'll spend the money I put aside on a Note 7, with the expectation that I'll only use it for a year until the 2017 iPhone... which is supposed to be second-coming or something (OLED, wireless charging, faster charging in general... Oh I really hope so).
In the meantime, Apple knows everyone is thinking of Android this year, and they are doing their best with Continuity and Handoff in MacOS Sierra and watchOS to make us really, really miss the Apple ecosystem if we were to switch... even for just a year. Apple Music on Android is a mess on purpose (and only less so on iPhone). Fortunately Spotify will do just fine (I already subscribe to both). Google Photos can supersede iCloud Photos (I currently use both on my iPhone, so it will be a pretty seamless switch). And I pay for both Dropbox and iCloud Drive and you know which one we all prefer. But iMessage... Oh my goodness what will I do without iMessage? It's easy to see why Apple never followed through with Job's promise to make iMessage/FaceTime cross platform. I'm way too attached to seamlessly moving from my Mac to my iPad to my Watch to communicate with my students. I have Android friends and sending them videos through Facebook messenger feels so... wrong. I wish SMS/MMS would get it's act together.
If I switch to Android now, I'd better do it fast, like a band-aid, before I get too attached to all the new features of MacOS Sierra and iOS 10, like cloud-desktop file access... And I should DEFINITELY switch before I let iCloud take my files off my computer and into the cloud!
Kinda makes you think... What if Apple has decided that buying new gadgets every year is bad for the environment, and they're actually doing this on purpose to slow down our habit of filling landfills with one-year-old devices. The AppleCare on my 2013 MacBook Pro is about to expire, which makes it the longest I've ever kept a MacBook without reselling it for a better model. My 2011 headless Mac mini is still running strong. My iPad was released in 2014, and I see no reason to replace it. The only thing I'm planning to buy this year is the Apple Watch 2, but I'm holding off in case I switch to Android and in any case Apple might not release Apple Watch 2 until 2017. Apple might be saving me money on purpose!
Edge to edge Iphone and IPad coming soon, plus MacBook Pros.
I would rather apple take their time and release it when it's done than rush to all those criticizing Apple.
I would rather apple take their time and release it when it's done than rush to all those criticizing Apple.
Um, does Target even sell Macs?
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Target sells A LOT more than just Apple products or electronics for that matter. I'm highly skeptical that a 20% drop in Apple sales would be the sole cause of a bad quarter. And if it's not why name drop Apple specifically?
Have you ever used an iPhone? They're rock solid, and in the event there is any issue, backed up by a great, extendible warranty.
Is it out of date when it works perfectly? No. What's so great about Samsung? It was released more recently? How is that a selling point at all? And when a new iPhone comes out, do your theories eat it? I'm guessing not. You seem generally unhappy about everything.
Apple iPhone user satisfaction crushes other phones/hardware. Try one and find this out.
Also, why are you here? I mean, generally.
Is it out of date when it works perfectly? No. What's so great about Samsung? It was released more recently? How is that a selling point at all? And when a new iPhone comes out, do your theories eat it? I'm guessing not. You seem generally unhappy about everything.
Apple iPhone user satisfaction crushes other phones/hardware. Try one and find this out.
Also, why are you here? I mean, generally.
Very true for technology stuff at Target. but I was looking for a phone *now* as my old phone was water damaged and stopped working. Apple store was 20 miles away, Target 1.5 miles away. Figured I didn't really need help, just a phone in a box. Shocked when I found out about the price difference (but Target was willing to give a $50 gift card if I signed up for a new cell plan).
So basically a decline in Apple sales contributed 0.002333% to Target's 1.1% same store sales decline. Why mention Apple by name? What comprised the other 2/3rds drop in electronics sales?
I got annoyed with target for accepting a Black Friday iPad order, then cancelling it two days later and saying I could buy in another target, in another state...with 8% more tax. So they're not exactly on my go-to list anymore (plus I realized it was much smarter to order from B&H photo anyway).
The target apple section is always pretty sad. Because it's basically a smudgy iPad or two, some iPhones mixed in with a bunch of android phones, and....drumroll.... iPods (you can imagine the kiddies asking their moms and dads what those funny little things are in the display case). All showcased in a what is generally a pretty messy and disorganized area of the store, with shopping carts full of what looks like returned merchandise and bins of third-rate DVDs served up feeding-trough style.
If target carried some Macs and Mac stuff (and if apple would get some new Macs and Mac stuff out fer christsake already), maybe the scene wouldn't be quite so bleak.
The target apple section is always pretty sad. Because it's basically a smudgy iPad or two, some iPhones mixed in with a bunch of android phones, and....drumroll.... iPods (you can imagine the kiddies asking their moms and dads what those funny little things are in the display case). All showcased in a what is generally a pretty messy and disorganized area of the store, with shopping carts full of what looks like returned merchandise and bins of third-rate DVDs served up feeding-trough style.
If target carried some Macs and Mac stuff (and if apple would get some new Macs and Mac stuff out fer christsake already), maybe the scene wouldn't be quite so bleak.
I thought stores have purchasing departments. Aren't they charged with looking at the market and putting the products in the store that they predict will sell. Is there some sort of contract where they have to sell Apple products no matter what?
If Apple's "newness" doesn't meet the popular test, why not place their products in a location away from eye level and place other products that will sell in that place?
If Apple's "newness" doesn't meet the popular test, why not place their products in a location away from eye level and place other products that will sell in that place?
Dear Target: It's a joke buying 'technology' at my local store.
Your Apple Watch selection was black, or white. Seriously, black, or white. No other colors. None. Even online, you listed the 'Apple Watch' on the website months ago, and yet it couldn't be ordered. Hmm...
iTouch: The last time I was in, there was just pink. That's it. Pink. Um, no...
Shuffles: Who buys the Shuffle? You had a bunch of them.
iPads: No cellular models. At. All. Most others where Mini's, or the smallest of the Air's. At one point, the display case still had a gen one iPad. Really... It disappeared sometime late last year.
The iPod display has a spot for the Classic too, without the Classic.
It's an embarrassment. I went looking for watch bands. Black, or white. Really?
Some of that could be Apple dumping junk on you, but come on, you can only hide behind Apple for so long...
Sorry...
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I think they had Apple before Walmart.
Your Apple Watch selection was black, or white. Seriously, black, or white. No other colors. None. Even online, you listed the 'Apple Watch' on the website months ago, and yet it couldn't be ordered. Hmm...
iTouch: The last time I was in, there was just pink. That's it. Pink. Um, no...
Shuffles: Who buys the Shuffle? You had a bunch of them.
iPads: No cellular models. At. All. Most others where Mini's, or the smallest of the Air's. At one point, the display case still had a gen one iPad. Really... It disappeared sometime late last year.
The iPod display has a spot for the Classic too, without the Classic.
It's an embarrassment. I went looking for watch bands. Black, or white. Really?
Some of that could be Apple dumping junk on you, but come on, you can only hide behind Apple for so long...
Sorry...
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I think they had Apple before Walmart.
Me too. I can already see the disappointment when it's released. Too much expectation. I don't believe Ive is capable of designing something beautiful not even speaking of groundbreaking. This year MacBook Pro will hint what to expect from iPhone 2017 in the terms of innovation, design and usability.
My experience is that Apple products are not stocked well at Target, usually hidden in one glass case to the side and the staff doesn't know what's in stock. It's a hassle to get them to open it up, look through things, misread the TINY Apple labels, and then say "sorry" we don't have that. So I don't shop Apple products at Target anymore. I've bought the last few at BestBuy, where stock is available on the website, there is a large Apple sales area, the staff knows what is left, etc.
There are a lot of companies that rely on apple for a large percentage of their sales. Samsung and Foxconn to name a couple.
A good way to get knowledgeable apple product employees at stores other than Apple Stores is to have Apple products that are new and exciting, then they'd actually use them and want to sell them. No one wants to sell a stale product.
I'm glad sales of iPhones are droping. About time that Apple got the message that people are tired of their overpriced and underspeced phones. I look forward to when Huawei starts to eat a chunk of the market as well. The more competition the higher the chances that Apple and Ive are goingto pull their finger out and give people a phone which is worht the price they charge.
Every time I go into a Target, I take a peek at the Apple section. It's always poorly stocked with last gen products. It seems to take them months to get the latest stuff. Add to that the fact that the people I see in Target lately increasingly look like the kind of people you'd expect to see in Walmart, and you have a recipe for a sales slump. Aging tech and the people who can't afford it...
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Yeah, why people even want to join a forum to discuss their crap is beyond me.
Well I did. Last year on Black Friday. Target was offering a $100 Target gift card with the Apple Watch, so I bought one for my gf for Christmas, and used the gift card to buy an Apple TV 4 that was on sale for $135 for her parents' Christmas present. :-D
But beyond that, you're right. It's the same as cell carrier stores. I don't go to Verizon to buy my iPhones. I buy them from Apple.
Your 100% correct. Sometimes I swear Macrumors deliberately tries to make Apple seem like their going under, when it's nothing more than a rehashed article from some other source.
Not too surprising since this is exactly the results expected from a CEO who lacks vision and understanding of technology and only knows the logistics of cutting corners on components, materials and manufacturing to increase profit margin.
Until apple finally release a curved screen oled phone, then you'll be all over it because apple will tell you it's what you need.