Comments on: First Microsoft retail stores to open this fall
Some will be near Apple locations, Microsoft confirms. CNET News' Ina Fried reports that a few stores will open this year, with more coming in 2010.
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About Beyond Binary
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.
Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.
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Sorry, I just can't do it. :)
"That's right! Because total sales is ALL that matters. Just look at GM."
How about we just look at the bank balance for both Apple and Microsoft for total sales? That should be fair, right?
That's not so with Microsoft and their retailers. Microsoft has always been open to heavy price negotiations. Whatever they could do to make a buck and get their product out there, they've done it.
Wal-mart can buy in such high quantities that the prices are sure to be cheaper then best buy. Costco sells xbox 360 for the same price as walmart, but they insist on including extras that you can't get anywhere else. Which in turn makes the xbox at costco a better deal because you get an extra game and controller, where at wal-mart you just get an extra controller. And on and on. Each retail store has their own special version.
So you would have to change your entire business model and make it consistent across the board. Then you have to take into account how many people are manufacturing hardware for your products. They have their own deals with retail stores and that same deal isn't consistent anywhere. And it wont be in their store.
So what's Microsoft going to sell? Keyboard, mice, xbox, games, office, windows? They better have a better price then other stores or make sure they are the same price if not cheaper. Why would I go to Microsoft when chances are what I'm looking for can be had cheaper somewhere else? But I would go there if every place was the same price. Why go to best buy when I can get the same thing at the same price straight from Microsoft in their clean, consistent, well stocked, highly knowledgeable staffed environment?
But all this will never happen. There's too many distributers, too many retailers to cut off and too many choices.
Making your own software and hardware may not be the solution for everybody, but when it comes time to sell your product, you have far better control and consistency.
A Microsoft store is a joke, a marketing and advertising ploy, a lame attempt to instill fear in the competition and an epic failure waiting to happen. There's nothing appealing or successful about a Microsoft store, unless they change their business model completely, which they can't and wont.
Price and product consistency is why Apple has the success they have. And spreading it out to anybody is the reason Microsoft had the success they had. Microsoft needs to stick with that, or change completely. And it looks like change is coming to them weather they want it or not. Either be a good copy or learn how to innovate.
Microsoft has over 23 billion dollars in the bank... just curious - do you know many companies in technology with 23 billion in the bank?
This IS a perception attack - direct on. People cannot envision what Microsoft does because well... the name has become very general. What does the typical consumer think when they hear Microsoft.... they think Windows, Office, Word, maybe Xbox, maybe Keyboards or mice.... Microsoft is more then those sums. Microsoft has a DEEP partner community - HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba - all make some very cool technology. Highlighting these solutions in the store wins points for these companies. Microsoft needs to work on its branding - this does that well... presents a face to the end user. It's not about selling a lot of stuff like computers (selling a single piece of software alone it its store could represent a significant amount of revenue.... no distribution = pure profit end ot end) it's about selling Xbox, accessories, maybe being the face of the product to answer questions and get its hands dirty with consumers - both happy consumers and mad consumers. It's a good thing.
As far as your choice and end users choice - last time I looked 90+ percent of users worked on Microsoft's Windows OS, the majority of gamers played Microsoft's games on a Windows or Xbox device, the vast majority work in an Office software environment. What does that say? Microsoft doesn't actually create something? If they left it up to staunch haters like you they'd probably lose more market share - instead they are putting their face into peoples lives and trying to make a better product. Hate them or not - they are doing the right thing and believe me - if they don't succeed they will figure out a way to succeed. They have that old $23 billion dollars in the bank for something.
A growing number of people have a perception that MS makes a bug ridden product with lousy customer service.
Although I'm sure that 'deep partnership' will draw people to their stores en masse.
With Vistas' online ads and their own site saying Vista can handle photos and media better- I find it worth a laugh.
Windows Live Photo Gallery (same thing used in Vista) is downloadable for XP. Same thing for this new spiffy desktop mail app, and the messenger. IE8 being pushed with Vista/7? Download it for free instead of buying a new OS. Same thing goes for WMP series..
People buy into Microsoft's lines about "how well" each new version of Windows handles media, etc. better than its predecessor. This not only makes me frustrated (I hate dishonest ads) but sympathetic for those I know and countless others that buy into the garbage.
Windows 7 is a good OS. Revolutionary? Not exactly, but good enough to kick the stigma of Vista. Just wait for the ads to pour in for this latest release, and then the uninformed masses will line up to buy it in droves.
Here's some ideas where the Microsoft store could present some value to consumers:
Seeing Xbox and futures / Project Natal
Seeing technology like Surface (Table PC) in action
How to better use technology from it's partners - HP, Dell, Sony, etc, etc.
Classes on Office, classes on using a tablet, working in SharePoint (you know, all those products the Mac people usually hate but sell as the #1 product for Apples)
Providing some support of the OS in person
Getting information on products like Visio, Project
Fielding compliants from customers (being the face that everyone has been wanting to yell at)
Offering accessories up - Mice, Keyboards, Xbox points, etc, etc
Showing end to end integration strategies - your media center can connect to your desktop PC which can connect to Xbox which can connect to Windows Media Server, which can connect to your phone
Going into the breadth of online service options - office online, exchange online, office communication online, sharepoint online, Bing - showing these technologies
The opportunities are endless here - it's a good way to put a face on a company that has always remained two steps back from its distribution chain. I can envision Microsoft pouring a lot of money into this venture - is has the deepest pockets in the industry and it needs a better PR machine which is closer to the users.
I for one think it's smart idea and with the amount of $$$ in the bank it's a good investment back into relations with its end users. Where as you go into Apple and feel like you are jumped into, "I am cool now" zone with the white walls and minimalistic feel I bet walking into a Microsoft store will show you cool technology focused on being cool technology. Show you some items that you may not have seen or envisioned before from its partner community.
From an experience perspective, I think going into a Apple store and going into a Microsoft store will be uniquely different as well. Microsoft will focus more on it's strengths aka the partner community (did you know there are over 630,000 Microsfot partners across the globe?) and it's overall ecosystem. The message here is Microsoft can do just about everything and showing its community what can be done allows them to explore and empower themselves.
A novel approach in my option. It use to be that Microsoft was connected to the nerd and geek community. Some of that has gone away as in general technology has become much more retail focused. To combat Apple and to a lesser extent Google, Microsoft must get a presence to the customer.
Microsoft is a well known brand - now it has to do it's PR and customer relations to become a good/solid brand.
I am not a content developer (although I moonlight as a photographer and low and behold I have a Mac to prove it ;))
As far as the perception of an Apple working better lasting longer - as a user of Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X - to be honest - they all last about the same amount of time - they are electronics - they are prone to breakage. We are all at the mercy of the hardware manufacture that produces the goods and trust me they break. My next door neighbor came to me telling me her system board fried in here 4 year old Macbook... it happens :)
At the end of the day - the tool that works for you works for you. Nothing wrong with that. I personally don't think that Windows PCs are all that bad - I haven't had a bad experience which could not be as easily replicated in my Mac. I feel very free flowing with my Mac - I feel very down to business focusing on the task at hand when I use my PC...
As far far as your friends go who are using Windows, its easy to complain when you are running an OS and a PC from 7+ years ago. Yes, Vista sucked from a resource perspective but once you had enough memory the problems went away with easy... Unfortunately Microsoft is a victim of it's partner ecosystem. I know your friends are going to have a lot of great things to say when they go from Windows XP (or Vista) to Windows 7 - I sure have!
I don't really think Apple markets to be 'cool', rather that you don't have to be a geek to get things (personal or business) done. In the end what works for you is probably the best for you. I think these days more and more people are finding that Macs 'get 'er done' with a lot less hassle. Now that you can run Windows on a Mac, That route is available if necessary.
Over the last few years, the number of friends sticking with Windows have dwindled. The design, reliability, ease of use, and certainly, in some cases, the ability to run Windows for special needs, makes it a no brainer. The small price difference only matters if your time is worth next to nothing.
a) as someone has noted, there would be lines around the entire mall of people waiting for support. That's not a slur on MSFT, just a reality given the larger numbers and the fact that there are more people using Windows who can't fix things themselves (especially Uncle Joe, who has nothing better to do than hang out at the mall all day). It doesn't scale.
b) investors wouldn't stomach that kind of hit to the company's profit margins.
So in reality, this is just all about marketing, and the stores will just be (literally) Window dressing. I know there are plenty of things they can put on the shelves, but they already have shelf space for all of that in Best Buy etc. for no overhead cost, so why are they bothering? One reason: MSFT is and always has been obsessed about copying its competitors in order to ensure it's not left behind. Everything the company has ever done is a direct emulation of its competitors original ideas. They really do sit around in a room, talk about what other people are doing which is working, and decide how they can copy it. And often it works: Microsoft Office worked out quite well for them, and they might even have another hit on their hands with Bing, who knows? But often it doesn't: the Zune is the most recent example, but there are dozens. It's literally a scattershot strategy - that's how they work. They aim at everything, and some of it sticks and some of it doesn't. They have the cash to try pretty much anything. Hence, Apple stores seem popular, let's build some of our own and see if we can improve our cool factor with all those kids who will start hanging out at the Windows Store. They're in for a rude awakening, when the only kids who show up are there to check their Gmail and especially when Uncle Joe starts showing up every day to complain about his printer not working properly.
a.) Why would Microsoft need to copy Apple in regard to support? Microsoft of course doesn't support the hardware platform - it makes the software where the hardware vendors can push the software.
b.) Hit to the companies profit margin? Are you kidding me? Bing, Xbox, Live, the list goes on and on - Microsoft will not be the best at everything nor can they be but they will still invest to show they have some strategy. Taking Xbox for instance - a massive failure in attempt #1 - attempt #2 and they are leading the field for attach rate, revenue per unit, and online experience. This has turned Xbox into a money maker....
Zune? just wait... version 3... Zune HD!
@jessie - a) that's exactly my point (?). i.e. therefore, why are they bothering to open these stores? b) of course it would hit the profit margin if they have to invest in hiring thousands of people at stores to act as tech support instead of having HP, Dell etc. soak all that up. If this is just for marketing, they can hire people at relatively low wages. If they try to offer tech support like Apple, they have to pay higher salaries. (Maybe this is partly what that Apple tax pays for, after all). MSFT is extremely profitable, they have a fantastic business model. My point is that to change that business model in order to compete with Apple will not destroy but will erode that margin, and investors tend to hate that. I agree with you on Xbox but it really adds to my point - some of these things they try turn out to be extremely successful. My point is just that I don't see these stores working out for them, not that they can't produce good stuff (I love my Xbox).
There is nothing innovative about the Apple store its simply that a store.
The "Geniuses" are nothing more then tech support with a fancy name.
It may be nicely designed but its hardly innovative to say the least.
of death which comes standard with all 37 versions of Windows 7."
[CNET editor's note: Personal attack deleted.]
Microsoft can replicate some of this but let's be honest. There will be no Microsoft genius - no one there to fix my Windows problem. Well maybe. Let's reinstall Win7. I think reinstalling Win7 will solve it. Know what? I'd reinstall Win7. Nah. I don't need to make a trip to the mall for that. Sure Microsoft can sell its wide array of products but will I be able to buy a computer there? And will the prices be Brookstone expensive or BestBuy cheap?
Despite my predictions, Apple came up aces on their stores but I feel much more confident that my prediction about the Microsoft store won't fall short. The stores will.
Apple`s lawyers will deem competition illegal. Boo hoo Apple. You are about to get a taste of REALITY.
REALITY BITES !
- by kamanashi July 17, 2009 8:28 AM PDT
- Putting next to the Apple store in the mall I go would would cause the Apple store to close down. No body is ever shopping in that one, they always end up going to Best Buy. Though, I can't really blame them, most normal consumers aren't looking to spend that much money.
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