I'm not one to buy into these MS copied this or Apple copied that, but come on! This is a blatant ripoff! The worst part is Microsoft doesn't need this. Apple neede their own stores because they couldn't get placement in big box retailer. Microsoft has all the exposure in the world! They need to let go of this obsession with Apple and Google and play to their own strengths.
It's a reactionary presence in the retail space. The main target is Apple which has turned their retail stores into a major success (compared with previous retail efforts by Dell, Gateway and Sony - all of which are in retreat). So what do you do? Concede the space to Apple? Microsoft isn't intending to make (much) money from these stores. It's about profile. It'll probably work, but given that Microsoft does not exhibit the same control-freak behavior of Apple where every detail is planned out and there is some semblance of "harmony" in their product designs, Microsoft will have to rely on ever changing and often incongruous products to display. It is good timing for Windows 7 (and bad timing for WinMo 6.5). Microsoft can still afford to burn money like TG in 30 Rock - but this is a form of presence advertising that is needed when you are in a mature market you dominate.
When you have Apple trashing their products daily, and every other company trying to get a piece of their pie it is clear to see this is a wise move. Many people are not aware about all the things their Microsoft products can do. For instance, how many people know that their Xbox can be synced with their Media Center software? Or that Zune and Xbox has partial integration?
Best Buy employees cannot offer all the details because they have too many other products to train for and everyone knows that going to a Wal-Mart associate for advice on tech is a no-no. So this is a great move by Microsoft. They have been trashed for the past 3 years and although they still sell products people have a lot of misconceptions about them. Opening their own specialty stores can help to change that.
You open a store to advertise? What if they look like Sony Style stores? If anything, those things (the ones I have seen anyway) make me NOT want to buy Sony products. Just because Apple does well in the retail does not mean MS will or even needs to.
As for showing how well their products work together, if that is really an issue, then they need better marketing and ease of use, and a store is not it.
Microsoft needs to concentrate on better integrating their products and making sure their core products, Office and Windows, stay relevant. The PC industry is on the verge of another revolution where traditional desktop apps and OS's may be left for dead and Microsoft is worried about competing with the Apple Store?
i doubt it takes MS much effort to throw some products in a store. it's not detracting from development of windows or office, and it's supposed to help build this new image they've been working on more recently.
@maveric: Clearly MS is not fully concentrated on core products. Windows 7 has positive buzz and is good, but is really 2 years late. It should have been Vista. Office on the web is a half-ass'd joke and as the mobile device market is in the process of a huge revolution, MS is putting out a band-aid (WinMo 6.5) while we wait a year for WinMo 7. IE 8 is still the slowest browser and still does not adhere to any standards. I mean, they release a fantastic piece of hardware in the Zune HD and put a so-so browser and no app store!
There are a lot more fish in the sea this time around. Microsoft isn't going to be able to just waltz in and live off the Windows/Office name as they have in the past. They need to rip down the silos, start collaborating between the differing departments and working on seamless integration between their hardware, software, and the web. Case in point, why has Zune Marketplace, XBOX Marketplace, PlaysForSure, and now their mobile app store coexisted so long? That needs to be a single store accessible across all of their platforms. Microsoft has all of the pieces, Windows, Office, XBOX, and Zune. They need to put them together and stop competing against themselves.
Wow that was a rant. It just angers me to see the potential in Microsoft blown on trying to follow what leaders in mind share are doing. You don't knock off Google or Apple by being them.
MS has one huge strength that can go a long way towards keeping its stores vital.
Gaming.
Gaming is an afterthought for Macs, then you have XBox on top of it. MS definitely wants to avoid their stores being seen as too gamercentric, but I think some smart social network driven gaming events would keep traffic flowing.
The other thing they should look to is focusing on the depth of software available only on PCs. Have workstations demo-ing a range of professional softs, to highlight this theme of PC universality. That almost every person or thing you interact with did something productive today on a PC running Windows.
Whatever they do, it needs to be clear that these stores shouldn't be little MS branded Best Buys.
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I'm not one to buy into these MS copied this or Apple copied that, but come on! This is a blatant ripoff! The worst part is Microsoft doesn't need this. Apple neede their own stores because they couldn't get placement in big box retailer. Microsoft has all the exposure in the world! They need to let go of this obsession with Apple and Google and play to their own strengths.
It's a reactionary presence in the retail space. The main target is Apple which has turned their retail stores into a major success (compared with previous retail efforts by Dell, Gateway and Sony - all of which are in retreat). So what do you do? Concede the space to Apple? Microsoft isn't intending to make (much) money from these stores. It's about profile. It'll probably work, but given that Microsoft does not exhibit the same control-freak behavior of Apple where every detail is planned out and there is some semblance of "harmony" in their product designs, Microsoft will have to rely on ever changing and often incongruous products to display. It is good timing for Windows 7 (and bad timing for WinMo 6.5). Microsoft can still afford to burn money like TG in 30 Rock - but this is a form of presence advertising that is needed when you are in a mature market you dominate.
When you have Apple trashing their products daily, and every other company trying to get a piece of their pie it is clear to see this is a wise move. Many people are not aware about all the things their Microsoft products can do. For instance, how many people know that their Xbox can be synced with their Media Center software? Or that Zune and Xbox has partial integration?
Best Buy employees cannot offer all the details because they have too many other products to train for and everyone knows that going to a Wal-Mart associate for advice on tech is a no-no. So this is a great move by Microsoft. They have been trashed for the past 3 years and although they still sell products people have a lot of misconceptions about them. Opening their own specialty stores can help to change that.
You open a store to advertise? What if they look like Sony Style stores? If anything, those things (the ones I have seen anyway) make me NOT want to buy Sony products. Just because Apple does well in the retail does not mean MS will or even needs to.
As for showing how well their products work together, if that is really an issue, then they need better marketing and ease of use, and a store is not it.
Microsoft needs to concentrate on better integrating their products and making sure their core products, Office and Windows, stay relevant. The PC industry is on the verge of another revolution where traditional desktop apps and OS's may be left for dead and Microsoft is worried about competing with the Apple Store?
i doubt it takes MS much effort to throw some products in a store. it's not detracting from development of windows or office, and it's supposed to help build this new image they've been working on more recently.
@maveric:
Clearly MS is not fully concentrated on core products. Windows 7 has positive buzz and is good, but is really 2 years late. It should have been Vista. Office on the web is a half-ass'd joke and as the mobile device market is in the process of a huge revolution, MS is putting out a band-aid (WinMo 6.5) while we wait a year for WinMo 7. IE 8 is still the slowest browser and still does not adhere to any standards. I mean, they release a fantastic piece of hardware in the Zune HD and put a so-so browser and no app store!
There are a lot more fish in the sea this time around. Microsoft isn't going to be able to just waltz in and live off the Windows/Office name as they have in the past. They need to rip down the silos, start collaborating between the differing departments and working on seamless integration between their hardware, software, and the web. Case in point, why has Zune Marketplace, XBOX Marketplace, PlaysForSure, and now their mobile app store coexisted so long? That needs to be a single store accessible across all of their platforms. Microsoft has all of the pieces, Windows, Office, XBOX, and Zune. They need to put them together and stop competing against themselves.
Wow that was a rant. It just angers me to see the potential in Microsoft blown on trying to follow what leaders in mind share are doing. You don't knock off Google or Apple by being them.
MS has one huge strength that can go a long way towards keeping its stores vital.
Gaming.
Gaming is an afterthought for Macs, then you have XBox on top of it. MS definitely wants to avoid their stores being seen as too gamercentric, but I think some smart social network driven gaming events would keep traffic flowing.
The other thing they should look to is focusing on the depth of software available only on PCs. Have workstations demo-ing a range of professional softs, to highlight this theme of PC universality. That almost every person or thing you interact with did something productive today on a PC running Windows.
Whatever they do, it needs to be clear that these stores shouldn't be little MS branded Best Buys.
Best Buy......