5 ms·

These stores always seemed like a desperate attempt to copy apple. Which would be fine if they had product lines that were interesting. But they don't.

dgellow 6y ago
The surface product lines generates a lot of interest.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Apparently not enough to offset the costs of dealing with retail problems and customer service. Much easier to sit back and collect rent on software.
- ntsplnkv2 6y ago
  Outside of HN, I don't know of anyone who cares about the next surface release. Anecdotally, of course.
- AgloeDreams 6y ago
  Apple sells 100s of phones and iPads for each surface sold. One can't just take their store model without their context and think it will be as successful. Plus you can get a surface at any store, no need to go to a Microsoft store that sells a random assortment of a computers (not just their own) where a new user might not realize a Surface is a Microsoft product.
  - dgellow 6y ago
    Sure but you don't have to be Apple successful for the physical store project to be considered successful.
softwaredoug 6y ago
I think in the case its more that Apple has discovered what retail really is in a digital-first world. It's a way to build brand relationship, not a retail storefront. I suspect this will be the paradigm for brick & mortar for decades, and I don't think MS is wrong to copy this pattern (many others are!)
cosmodisk 6y ago
Apple has like 5 producs.That's it. Microsoft probably has more. However,for MS user it's a console, a PC,or laptop,while for Apple fans it's The Apple. Hence the difference in brick and mortar stores.
- ethagknight 6y ago
  I know there is no point responding to such comments, but I was curious myself: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, AirPods, MacBook, iMac, Pencil, AppleTV, HomePod, the monitor, software products, cloud services, plus accessories to support the ecosystem. plus selling high margin extended warranties and financing. Most of those items are categories of products, not specific products themselves. Many of those products are industry leaders in their respective segments. Thats a lot of products, and a lot of good reasons to maintain a fleet of retail outlets.
  - fortran77 6y ago
    They're not the #1 phone, they're not the #1 computer platform, they're not the #1 smart speaker, they're not the #1 monitor vendor, they're not the #1 streaming television dongle. I don't know how you can say "most are industry leaders in their respective segments."
    - cycrutchfield 6y ago
      Do you consider Old Navy to be an industry leader for apparel just because they pump out huge volumes of crappy clothes? The fact of the matter is that Apple is the biggest manufacturer of smartphones in terms of net profit, by far. It’s not even remotely close. That sounds like an industry leader to me.
      - askafriend 6y ago
        To put a number on it, Apple books between 65-80% of ALL profits generated in the smartphone industry by selling phones. Like you said....others are not even on the same planet. I think people really fail to understand the scale of Apple's success.
fortran77 6y ago
The Surface, Hololens, and XBox aren't "interesting"? Stop it.
- AgloeDreams 6y ago
  Xbox totally is...But I honestly don't think many (normal, not HN or tech) people associate the Xbox brand with Microsoft so strongly. Maybe somewhere down the stack of other things but many likely associate 'Windows' or 'Office'.. which of course is not interesting at all to the normal person. Plus the average person has no idea what Hololens is and the Surface brand is not actually strongly associated as well (at least it's not the first three things a customer thinks). Basically to the average person it seems like a `Best Buy that sells less cool stuff`. In comparison, the first things when people think of Apple is 'iPhone' followed by 'iPad', and 'Mac'; all of which outsell the Surface Brand multiple (or in the case of the iPhone, hundreds of) times to 1. If Microsoft opened Xbox stores.. I actually would expect success.
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- scarface74 6y ago
  The XBox might be “interesting” but it isn’t a high volume, high margin item. It’s sold at a lost and has sold less than 50 million in its entire lifetime. Apple sells that many iPhones in a bad quarter, it sells about that many iPads in a year. https://www.vgchartz.com/ https://www.vgchartz.com/
- deleted 6y ago
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makecheck 6y ago
The copying was so weirdly precise, too; like down to the table layouts, T-shirts and lanyards. It’s as if they couldn’t pinpoint what made Apple stores successful and were afraid to change any detail in their copies.

dgellow 6y ago

The surface product lines generates a lot of interest.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
Apparently not enough to offset the costs of dealing with retail problems and customer service. Much easier to sit back and collect rent on software.
ntsplnkv2 6y ago
Outside of HN, I don't know of anyone who cares about the next surface release. Anecdotally, of course.
AgloeDreams 6y ago
Apple sells 100s of phones and iPads for each surface sold. One can't just take their store model without their context and think it will be as successful. Plus you can get a surface at any store, no need to go to a Microsoft store that sells a random assortment of a computers (not just their own) where a new user might not realize a Surface is a Microsoft product.
- dgellow 6y ago
  Sure but you don't have to be Apple successful for the physical store project to be considered successful.

softwaredoug 6y ago

I think in the case its more that Apple has discovered what retail really is in a digital-first world. It's a way to build brand relationship, not a retail storefront. I suspect this will be the paradigm for brick & mortar for decades, and I don't think MS is wrong to copy this pattern (many others are!)

cosmodisk 6y ago

Apple has like 5 producs.That's it. Microsoft probably has more. However,for MS user it's a console, a PC,or laptop,while for Apple fans it's The Apple. Hence the difference in brick and mortar stores.

ethagknight 6y ago
I know there is no point responding to such comments, but I was curious myself: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, AirPods, MacBook, iMac, Pencil, AppleTV, HomePod, the monitor, software products, cloud services, plus accessories to support the ecosystem. plus selling high margin extended warranties and financing. Most of those items are categories of products, not specific products themselves. Many of those products are industry leaders in their respective segments. Thats a lot of products, and a lot of good reasons to maintain a fleet of retail outlets.
- fortran77 6y ago
  They're not the #1 phone, they're not the #1 computer platform, they're not the #1 smart speaker, they're not the #1 monitor vendor, they're not the #1 streaming television dongle. I don't know how you can say "most are industry leaders in their respective segments."
  - cycrutchfield 6y ago
    Do you consider Old Navy to be an industry leader for apparel just because they pump out huge volumes of crappy clothes? The fact of the matter is that Apple is the biggest manufacturer of smartphones in terms of net profit, by far. It’s not even remotely close. That sounds like an industry leader to me.
    - askafriend 6y ago
      To put a number on it, Apple books between 65-80% of ALL profits generated in the smartphone industry by selling phones. Like you said....others are not even on the same planet. I think people really fail to understand the scale of Apple's success.

fortran77 6y ago

The Surface, Hololens, and XBox aren't "interesting"? Stop it.

AgloeDreams 6y ago
Xbox totally is...But I honestly don't think many (normal, not HN or tech) people associate the Xbox brand with Microsoft so strongly. Maybe somewhere down the stack of other things but many likely associate 'Windows' or 'Office'.. which of course is not interesting at all to the normal person. Plus the average person has no idea what Hololens is and the Surface brand is not actually strongly associated as well (at least it's not the first three things a customer thinks). Basically to the average person it seems like a `Best Buy that sells less cool stuff`. In comparison, the first things when people think of Apple is 'iPhone' followed by 'iPad', and 'Mac'; all of which outsell the Surface Brand multiple (or in the case of the iPhone, hundreds of) times to 1. If Microsoft opened Xbox stores.. I actually would expect success.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
scarface74 6y ago
The XBox might be “interesting” but it isn’t a high volume, high margin item. It’s sold at a lost and has sold less than 50 million in its entire lifetime. Apple sells that many iPhones in a bad quarter, it sells about that many iPads in a year. https://www.vgchartz.com/ https://www.vgchartz.com/
deleted 6y ago
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makecheck 6y ago

The copying was so weirdly precise, too; like down to the table layouts, T-shirts and lanyards. It’s as if they couldn’t pinpoint what made Apple stores successful and were afraid to change any detail in their copies.