Microsoft will easily make these stores, and they will be popular without a doubt. They have the money to make anything work... For instance, if they started a hosting company they would instantly have thousands of clients.
Not as much. Apple, for two quarters running, now has more cash on hand than Microsoft. They have lots of seperate businesses running. Most have thousands of customers. Most also lose money. Like Zune. Their internet businesses, such as MSN and everything else related. Don't they also lose money on the XBox?
Microsoft stated in their last quarterly report that the rest of 09 is uncertain and they expect decreased revenue throughout the year. In the meantime, Apple and Google enjoyed record sales and growth.
It also eliminates you from competing at Walmart, et al, and now, instead of MS being sold at thousands of WalMart, Target, etc. stores, how many Microsoft stores will there be? Microsoft is not a phone company, or really even a hardware company. If they can't sell Zune, how can they compete with Apple or Blackberry? Right now, Apple has more cash than Microsoft and are far better at marketing. Nope. While listening to the wonderful tunes of Barry Manilow on Muzak. Those foolish enough to buy one of these will find them pushed into the same corner with the dusty arcade games...next year. For what? Dinosaurs mating. I was really hoping that would happen. It would have sucked Microsoft dry but, unfortunately, would have drug Yahoo down with it. But Dell does it without a store. Why would you want to drive to a Microsoft store? To buy Vista? To get pressured into tech support you don't want? If Microsoft did open stores, they'd be around a few years then close. Write it down. Save this link. I give it 5 years tops. And it will be noted what a huge money loser it was.
I should agree with you. Nowadays MS is losing money on different areas. apple has lot of money in hand. They can do anything since they have $28 billion in cash compare to $23 billion with MS.
@howard Never said they would remove their products from these other channels, but Microsoft being Microsoft would make it so their stores offered the better deal. That is how they would direct traffic away from the other channels of distribution like Walmart. Besides Microsoft is all about their VAR's big and small. Dell has kiosks in Malls. Microsoft would drive customers into their stores with some promos for whatever they are baiting customers with and then put the upsell on them. Brick and mortar stores are the dinasaurs. Why have 100's of stores? When you can have a dozen warehouses spread across the country to distribute your product with... and probably wouldn't need that many. It is so customers can play with what they want to buy, before buying it. Same reason electronics stores have display models for all the electronics they are selling. I am not saying their store idea is a great idea... I am just speculating on what they might try to do with it. XBOX is the only real value those stores would have a use for. Other than that... I just don't see it being a wise investment. Apple wins in the mp3 player market, because they were the first to market an mp3 device well. Much like Microsoft was the first to market an OS well. This helps them both maintain their dominance in their respective technologies. However, Microsoft's market share is slipping due to the OS X from Apple and the iPod/iPhone success. Microsoft will continue going downhill for several years, but it will be a long time before anyone else topples that giant. Main reason is Ballmer. He is a tool, and IMHO bad for Microsoft. Another factor to add to the mix is Steve Jobs. Apple's success is heavily dependent on his influence. Both companies suffer dramatically without the originals. The next 20 years will be interesting to watch. I wouldn't be surprised if a new OS emerges because of it.
you have realy very good insight on both the companies. I would agree that Ballmer willbe a real problem for MS. And, for Apple is influenced by Steve Jobs for his speech and creativity. But, i wouldn't agree that Apple may loose its path bcos Steve Jobs leave the company. One thing those guys brought to the company is "DNA". It is not easy to change the DNA of the company. It's my opinion.
Yes..it is another rumour in the market. But, it will happen since MS tries to copy success from others.
Oh, please. My name's not Howard and people call me Doc. Don't they only do that at Christmas? That's the only time I've seen them. You seem to be contradicting yourself there. Brick/mortar stores won't go away for the reasons you state. People want to touch/feel and talk with other people. Maybe I need to re-read the article but my impression was it would be there to sell all their software and not just games. Now they'd be turning themselves into a Gamestop. As stated somewhere, Microsoft would be competing with their own customers; the stores. Bad move. I don't think they were the first. Microsoft wasn't the first to offer a personal desktop OS either. Apple marketed it better than anyone else while MS made inroads due to early adoption by PC vendors, including their illegal activities, but better marketing nonetheless. Absolutely correct. Already has. The web. The web is the OS.
They can easily start an online mall . They have money . But I don't think they would be as successful as Apple .
Why has the Zune failed? I'd take a Zune any day over the iPod. And I agree with the other user, Zune Marketplace blows iTunes out of the water. Sure, it hasn't caught on as much as the iPod, but if you only use Microsoft products like me, having a Zune that I can connect to my 360 and share music and photos, etc. is awesome!
@doc Couldn't resist that one. Don't know if you are a real doc or not or even a phd doc for that matter... but never fails, when you call a doctor by their first name, they get so pissed because you didn't refer to them as a dr. It wasn't meant to be mean... more like a poke in the ribs. I expected a response like that. As far as I know they do it year round... Of course I don't spend a lot of time in Malls. I have been there several times and it is never around xmas time. I avoid that place at all costs during xmas. Those places turn into madhouses. Once lady punched my brother in law in the back hard... because he got the last elmo doll a couple of years ago. What I was trying to say was that most will go away except in the case of the need to touch and feel stores. The ones that do stay will downsize to a much smaller store... providing of course the economy worsens to the point like it was in the 1930's. Few retail stores will be able to survive in a financial climate like that. Walmart and bargain stores like it will survive... but not without closing stores. High end stores will likely not. Take Starbucks for example... they are having to close stores to survive and are even coming out with a $1 coffee. I didn't read the article... I will read it now though. I was just speculating on the idea of Microsoft having a store and what they would use it for. It is wise for Microsoft to sell everything they sell via other retailers in their store. Someone might come in to get the latest XBOX game, and decide they want to upgrade to the latest version of Office. Microsoft may even go a step further and try to broker deals on 3rd Party applications like Symantec, Trend Micro, PC Games, etc. They may even attempt to develop PC games available exclusively at Microsoft stores. Again this is all speculation... who knows what they are really thinking of doing. Never said they were the first. Said they were the first to market it well, as in create Market Dominance. @kks Thanks. But look at where Apple was before Steve Jobs returned. Look at where Apple is now. The only wild card here is what he created since he has been back. It may sustain the company for a decade after he is gone... but not much longer than that. They have to replace him with someone who has that same ingenius creativity he has.
It's totally true... I would not be surprise if I heard that Microsoft plan to release a soft drink to compete with Coca-Cola LOL
Don't knock MS. They moved computers out of the veritable stone age, even if you don't like how they did it. Of course their time as a near-monopoly is almost over, but that was to be expected with time.
They did not. They made it more accessible to the masses. Their technology, the Windows OS, is not on a par with Unix/Linux/BSD.
you are correct. The problem with them is they want to monopoly without the original thinking. That will be the reason if MS fails in the future. IBM is running for 100 years. I don't think that MS can do such a long business unless they have innovation. They are not the game changer. They done only with the windows. After that they just try to make money using windows. Not concentrating on the new innovations.
lol. Let me preference this statement by stating that I absolutely love Ubuntu. It's my favorite OS to use personally. Now, that aside: Are you kidding? MS Windows not only got the masses involved in computing, but it also brought software development and made it realistic for the entry level guy to produce a real-deal sellable app with little or no programming experience (Visual Basic). If you've ever played with Visual Studio, and you know what you are doing, you can make a small sellable application in a single day with little more than point and click (very little coding needed). MS took the Operating System concept and expanded it beyond simply a kernel, waiting for piecemeal apps to be added to it, into what we have today, which is a fully functional system which can be taken out of the box and satisfy the needs of 60% of the computer using public with no additional configuration or applications. I agree that MS has engaged in some less than laudable actions over the years, but don't hate on the company that virtually created an industry single-handedly.