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Samsung Fascinate arriving in Verizon stores, early September launch seems a given
Lest all the paper-based leaks weren't sufficient evidence for you, we've now got ourselves an insider at one of Verizon's brick-and-mortar outlets informing us that Fascinate launch kits are being distributed. VZW is said to be training up its staff (presumably that involves more than just pointing out where the above puzzle piece should go) and the whole thing's looking "right on track" for the mooted early September launch. So that basically gives us about a week's time to kill with 21:9 HDTVs, 3D prototypes, slinky tablets, and whatever else we can find at IFA. We might just be able to manage it.
Foxconn makes designs on the Chinese retail market, gives laborers $25,000 to start stores
Three months ago, the compensation of Chinese laborers was low enough that those who built an iPhone couldn't dream of buying one, but the spending power of China in general has increased enough that electronics giant Foxconn (aka Hon Hai Precision Industries) is actually planning to sell such goods in those laborers' home country. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company will open ten large electronics stores in Shanghai by the end of 2011, and extend its existing chains of smaller retail stores and booths around the country by about 50 and 200 respectively. The plans aren't all focused on middle- and upper-class Chinese, as they provide provision for those aforementioned laborers as well -- on top of several recent wage increases, Foxconn would reportedly provide $25,000 to employees to help start up electronics stores in their hometowns. We wonder how many iPads a laborer would have to sell to afford one of their own.
HTC EVO 4G launch day line watch
You've had the day circled on your calendar for nearly a month, you've seen its insides, you've seen it rooted, and you've even witnessed Froyo running on its massive 4.3-inch screen. Now the time has finally come to actually own the EVO. As is our time-honored tradition with galactically significant product launches, we're starting up a little photo essay here showing the progression of lines outside Sprint stores through this most auspicious of days. Only the trick here is that you'll be doing our writing for us, a thousand words at a time. Join us after the break for the pictures and don't forget -- a lot of stores will be opening early to sate demand.
Apple retail store sales climb 8%
Apple just continues to ignore the bad economic conditions -- sales at Apple Stores have reportedly gone up 8% during the quarter that ended in March. That's a pretty wholesome figure considering no new Apple computers were offered -- before you protest and ask about the iPad and the new MacBooks, don't forget that that's all happened since April started. So there was more traffic in the stores even before there were new shinies to buy. This good news for Apple comes from analyst Charlie Wolf, from Needham & Company. He told investors that the March numbers followed 19.8 percent year-over-year growth of same-store sales in December. In March of last year, Mac retail sales were down about 22%. Same-store year-over-year March Mac revenues were up 31.2 percent, while non-Mac revenues -- including software, iPhones, iPods and accessories increased by 14.5 percent. Starting in September of 2003, Apple has opened 123 U.S. stores. Apple's U.S. market share went from 3% to 9% according to Morgan Stanley. Those are numbers any company would covet. [Via AppleInsider]
Official: Apple sells more than 300K iPads on day one
Apple announced this morning that it sold more than 300,000 iPads on opening day. The comprehensive number includes pre-order pickups, deliveries to channel partners and walk-in sales at Apple Stores. Additionally, customers went home and downloaded more than 1,000,000 apps (oh, it's on) and 250,000 ebooks. As Steve Jobs notes in the press release, the average owner downloaded about 3 iPad apps and 1 book on Saturday. Selling 300,000+ iPads in 24 hours is impressive, but a far cry of Munster's latest estimate of 700,000. Yet, it's right on target with his initial guess: between 200,000 and 300,000. Note that "deliveries to channel partners" means that Apple still counts unit sales for any unsold inventory that's at Best Buy or other authorized resellers. By comparison, the iPhone 3G and 3GS sold one million units in three days and the first iPhone sold one million units in 74 days.
Wowhead store now open for business
A tipster named James sent us a pointer to store.wowhead.com a little while ago, and as a few people have noticed since, the Wowhead store is now open for business! Here's what they're selling: Official Wowhead merchandise (a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a mousepad, so far - does anyone still use mousepads?) WoW paraphernalia, like those steins, and some LapWorks and Steelseries hardware products. Some random gaming hardware that seems to have nothing to do with WoW, like Guitar Hero for PS2, and Xbox 360 accessories. It is at a discount, though, so that's cool. The Burning Crusade collector's edition. I guess they had some extra copies [now seems to be sold out]. One interesting feature of the store is "reward points." Every item you can buy gets you a certain number of reward points; the amount loosely correlates with price, but I couldn't determine a direct correspondence from one to the other. Basically they idea is: buy stuff, earn points, spend points on rewards. So far the rewards consist of the original WoW and the various Wowhead merchandise, and the points add up fast - as the site points out, a $30 Xbox controller nets you enough points for a copy of WoW, and almost enough for a t-shirt. For the technically inclined, I inquired about the underlying technology of the shop. The front-end work is all in-house, and so should hold true to the beautiful Wowhead aesthetic, but the e-commerce engine is the popular open-source platform Magento.
Verizon announces early store openings for DROID launch
We'd already heard through the grapevine that select Verizon Wireless stores would be cracking their doors open early to deal with the presumed flood of consumers "Humans" eager to snap up the first-ever Android 2.0 device, and now the carrier has come right out with the official details. We're told that "many" of its over 2,000 retail locations will open at either 7AM or 8AM local time to field orders for the DROID, though VZW mall stores will all open at their regular time. You should check with your local store to see exactly when they'll open, and while we can't guarantee it, we'd guess that having an Android-related tattoo on your person is a good way to get VIP treatment once you arrive on scene. Or, you know, you could just get your Best Buy pre-order in now and save $100 up front by dodging the mail-in rebate.
Steve Jobs helping overhaul Disney retail
The New York Times has posted about a new project that our own Mr. Jobs has taken on: he's now helping out Disney Stores with their retail business. You have to hand it to Disney, no matter what you think of the Mouse House -- when they have a problem with part of the business, they bring in the experts. First they have Pixar's John Lasseter come in and take over animation (and they're about to release what looks like the best 2D movie in ages), and now they've got Steve Jobs himself sprucing up their retail spaces. Sounds like they're making the store more interactive (walking by some displays with certain products will create an audiovisual reaction), and taking some of the tech as well (employees will be able to check out items on mobile units, and control certain displays in the store with iPhones). They also borrowed another page from Jobs' playbook: they've apparently created a prototype store (just like Apple did way back when), not only to test out what everything might look like, but to give a charge to executives and investors who get a tour. Sounds interesting, but then again, it makes sense. What else is an Apple Store, but a toy shop for big kids? [via MacUser]
Microsoft Store concept revealed in leaked design presentation?
Microsoft's very real brick-and-mortar stores are not too far off now, and it looks like Gizmodo got its hands on a Powerpoint presentation purportedly from "design and brand strategy" consultant firm Lippicott for how these retail outlets might turn out. The presentation overall is reminiscent of Apple's stores, complete with its own "Answer Bar" for troubleshooting. Other highlights include lots of Surface demos scattered about the interior, a massive "digital media wall" screen that wraps around the store, and stage areas for Windows 7, Media Center, WinMo, and netbooks. Additionally, the slides discuss in-store events centered around Project Natal, the ever-secret project codenamed Pink, and most importantly... the option to throw your birthday party on location. While it's not 100 percent clear what the purpose of some of these slides might be -- or if this is even the firm the big M has gone with -- there is a lot here that's piqued our curiosity. Whether or not this ends up being indicative of the final product, something tells us that last bit about the birthday parties is gonna be key to its success -- get on it, Steve.
Microsoft confirms retail stores coming this fall
Well, this is going to be fun! Microsoft, which hired former Wal-Mart exec David Porter to be its corporate vice president of retail stores back in February, has just confirmed that stores are, indeed, on the way -- and soon. COO Kevin Turner confirmed the plans at the Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans yesterday, saying the stores are due to open this fall (maybe to coincide with the launch of Windows 7?) -- and what's more, Redmond's bringing the fight directly to Apple's doorstep. "Stay tuned, because we're going to have some retail stores opened up that are opened up right next door to Apple stores." Things are about to get saucy, people.
Boost Mobile planning retail blitz with 50 new stores this year
Boost's clearly (and understandably) delighted by the explosive popularity of its $50 unlimited package, but the scrappy little division of Sprint still needs to grow into the big shoes it's now fashioned for itself -- and it looks like that's what 2009 is going to be all about. Boost chief Matt Carter has revealed that the brand will be opening some 50 new retail outlets before the end of the year, all of which will be dedicated to peddling Boost goods rather than occupying a lame little kiosk in the corner of a Sprint store. That's in addition to the three dedicated stores Boost currently operates in Miami, LA, and Houston, so it's a pretty big step up -- and with subscriber adds continuing to pile up amid newly-heated competition with arch rivals like Virgin, there probably couldn't be a better time to step up. [Via mocoNews]
Apple t-shirt quilt available on eBay
I don't know how comfy a quilt made out of t-shirts would be, but maybe the fact that they're all Apple t-shirts will help. That's exactly what this quilt is made out of -- it's up over on eBay right now, and while the price is only around $36 at the time of this writing, it's probably gone up since then. There are about 20 t-shirts in the quilt total, and they look like they range from the late '90s (there's a bondi blue iMac on there, I believe) up to the Tiger release (at least those are all the ones I recognize). And they do seem like official store t-shirts, which means whoever made the quilt probably is or knows an Apple employee.If you can get over the fact that someone probably once wore your quilt, it might be a nice Apple-themed bedspread to grab. I've been looking for a good quilt lately, and while this is a little too patched together for my interests, maybe Apple is missing something here. What would an Ive-designed quilt end up looking like?
Analysis: iTunes holds 12.6% of the US music market
Stick with us here: a new report by Forrester Research claims that of all the music purchased in the US, digital purchases have jumped to 18% of the total, and they expect it to go up to 41% of total sales over the next five years. That means that about 20% of all the music sold in the US is bought digitally. And distorted-loop.com is doing a little reasoning from those numbers -- since Apple's iTunes accounts for 70% of US digital sales, DL has decided that Apple accounts for 12.6% of all music sold in the US.Can't really argue with that reasoning, and given that we know iPod sales are up (and increased sales of the iPod touch means more people can buy from iTunes straight to their iPods, not to mention that one of the biggest days for iTunes sales is Christmas, thanks to all the new iPods under the tree), we can probably look for that number to head even further north next year.
Wrath shipped to stores, copies being sold early at 7-11
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Wrath_of_the_Lich_King_being_sold_at_7_11_right_now'; We're getting multiple reports that Blizzard has shipped Wrath of the Lich King out to stores -- one of our readers in Australia ordered the CE and actually got his edition shipped to him already (the game will install, but won't run yet), a few Gamestops around the country have confirmed that they have copies in store (though not for sale yet), and a few people have told us that they've already picked up their copies at 7-11 (notorious for suddenly selling games, and then very recently selling them early).So odds are that you might be able to grab the game early from stores that are breaking the street date, but it does appear that Blizzard hasn't actually flipped the switch on the expansion, and likely won't do it until tomorrow evening. We'll keep an eye out for more places Wrath may have already popped up.Update: Thanks to one of our readers for sending along the pic of his Wrath box and the receipt above. The game is indeed shipped and being sold, though Blizzard is saying Northrend won't be available until Wednesday evening. Another reader picture of a purchased game after the break. Are you ready for the challenges that await you in Northrend? WoW Insider has you covered with our 8-day guide to Preparing for Wrath. Also, check out our feature on AddOns new, old and outdated and Essential AddOns for Wrath written especially with the expansion in mind.
Ripples from Circuit City and Tweeter to affect upscale dealers?
It's not like folks in the market for custom-install gear go to big box retailers like Circuit City and Tweeter for their "fix," but who can deny the way that those Sunday paper ads get the imagination going about how to improve your digital lifestyle? Prognosticators of all things CE, NPD Group, says that the diminishing fortunes of these big box stores will be felt at specialty dealers, and not necessarily in a good way. Sure, the disappearance of all that advertisement money from the CE pool might hurt awareness; but in the end, we know all those displaced regular customers of Circuit City and/or Tweeter will need to shop somewhere, so it's also an opportunity for smaller shops. Tough times are ahead, but there's also opportunity for retailers who can provide top-notch service.
Tweeter gets a rock, closes distribution centers
It's Halloween, and things are looking scary for Tweeter, which has already risen once from the grave. The company was purchased by a liquidator last night and the entire stock of goodies at the distribution centers has been forwarded to the retail stores. Sure, that's one way to shave $12 million off the operating costs, but asking manufacturers to ship to individual retail outlets probably isn't the most efficient way to run things. As if that's not bad enough, calls to the corporate office by TWICE have been greeted by a recording that states the corporate offices have been closed and then go unanswered. Optimists see this change in operations as a way for Tweeter to forge ahead, but this looks like a clear-out if you ask us. What's your take? [Via CEPro]
Tweeter hits a sour note
You don't have to have a Nobel Prize in economics to know that the current state of the economy is bad news for sales of HT gear, but it would be doubly bad for a company that, say, was just trying to get business moving again after emerging from bankruptcy. Enter Tweeter, which only this past summer was retooling stores into "electronic playgrounds." The company's CEO has been replaced by a restructuring firm exec (aka axeman) who quickly got down to business by putting Tweeter operations into a "temporary transition period," and we've got a bad feeling that means the electronic playground just got a lot rougher.
Research finds that salespeople recommend LCD TVs more than plasmas
For some strange reason, we can't say we're surprised by the latest J.D. Power and Associates report. Maybe it's how LCD HDTVs seem to be highlighted in most retail locations, or maybe it's just because the negative burn-in stigma attached to earlier PDPs has yet to wear off. Whatever the case, said research firm has just produced an article claiming that "retail electronics salespersons are recommending LCD TVs instead of plasma TVs at a rate of more than three to one." The research focused on shoppers looking for sets 40-inches and up over the past six months, though it didn't specifically mention where it went undercover to source such data. Really though, it's not shocking to hear that B&M salespeople aren't totally adept at explaining pros and cons -- after all, we'd recommend doing your own independent research and ordering online -- but hopefully this will beat the message home to those who've been blindly believing anything they hear when shopping for a new set.[Image courtesy of Exceptional Innovation]
Apple Stores receive iPhone 3G window displays
Gizmodo is reporting that Apple stores have started receiving their new window displays for the iPhone 3G launch. The iPhone display is similar to those that showed for last year's iPhone launch -- with a few design changes to mimic the iPhone 3G. According to Gizmodo, Apple stores around the country will be putting up these displays today. Gizmodo has a gallery of pictures on their site for your viewing pleasure.
CEPro reviews a Tweeter concept store
Our friends at CEPro got a chance to stroll through the newly-designed Tweeter concept store in Dedham, MA with their camera, and it sounds like they came away impressed. After reading their impressions, we want to check out one of these stores as well -- it looks like the kind of playground we could while away some summer hours in. The store design emphasizes careful setup and consumer education rather than the sheer number of stock units on display. As we all know, the effort of forming a short list of items to audition can be totally undone by lackluster demo environment, which is all too common in the big box stores that dominate the retail channel. By integrating the gear into home-like settings and liberally sprinkling the "Try Me" buttons around for automated demos, consumers can get a better feel for how the gear they're considering will fit in with their home, which we're guessing isn't dominated by flood lamps, aisle shelving, industrial carpeting and 30-foot ceilings.[Image courtesy CEPro]
