Anyone looking to pre-order a Surface can now do so the old-fashioned way: By walking into a store and talking with a human about it. WPCentral has learned that some Microsoft (MSFT) stores and pop-up kiosks are now accepting customer pre-orders for the Surface, which is due to officially launch on October 26th. Customers who pre-order the Surface at stores get a reservation card letting them know that their tablet will be held for them and that they can pick it up at the store starting at noon on October 26th.
Those who thought they would be safe preordering an iPhone 5 from Best Buy (BBY) might be in for some bad news. 9to5Mac got its hands on an internal Best Buy memo that acknowledges the company won’t be able to fulfill its iPhone 5 preorders in a timely manner due to “current inventory allocation.” So what does that mean for customers who preordered their Apple (AAPL) smartphones through Best Buy? Apparently the company plans to have all its preorders fulfilled by mid-October, or “no later than 28 days from launch.” Maybe standing outside an Apple store all night makes a little more sense than we thought. More →
AT&T (T) customers hungry for the iPhone 5 have officially depleted its launch stock and customers will now have to an extra week or two before their device ships. Verizon (VZ) is also apparently out of its launch stock of the iPhone 5, as it has pushed back its shipment date for the iPhone 5 to September 26th. AT&T and Verizon both sold out of their iPhone 5 launch stocks hours after Apple (AAPL) announced that it had sold out of its own stock within an hour of accepting pre-orders.
[Via 9to5Mac]
In the coming weeks Microsoft (MSFT) will make its mark with three new products: Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface tablet. In order to get the word out about its new re-imagined operating system, Steve Ballmer’s team of marketers are planning to open 32 “pop-up” shops in North America, according to Information Week. The stores probably won’t have quite the punch that Apple (AAPL) Stores do, but they should at least provide many customers with a first-hand experience of Windows 8′s tile-based user interface. A full list of the upcoming pop-up shops follows below.
Forget computer science — to be an Apple (AAPL) Genius you apparently need a degree in cognitive psychology. Gizmodo on Tuesday got hold of the training manual that Apple gives to its retail employees and it’s rife with psychobabble designed to get potential customers comfortable with forking over lots of cash for Apple’s finely crafted products. More →
Samsung (005930) may still be waiting to see whether or not a jury will find it guilty of design patent infringement, but the company isn’t doing itself many favors with the public perception that it simply copies everything Apple (AAPL) does. The latest example comes via the Sydney Morning Herald, which took a little trip down to Samsung’s newest flagship outlet in Sydney and found some striking similarities between it and Apple’s retail store just down the street. Of course, this isn’t the first time the striking similarities between Samsung’s new retail shops and Apple Stores have been observed. More →
With the unveiling of Apple’s (AAPL) next-generation iPhone less than a month away, sales of the company’s currently available iPhones are seemingly slowing more than expected. Last week, Sprint (S) slashed $50 off the price of each of Apple’s iPhone 4S models, and the carrier also announced it was waiving its $36 activation fee. Now, Target (TGT) and Best Buy (BBY) are both offering sales of their own on various versions of Apple’s iPhone, according to AllThingsD. More →
Best Buy (BBY) founder Richard Schulze sees the writing on the wall: the era of big-box consumer electronics stores is coming to an end. The Wall Street Journal reports that Schulze wants to dramatically pare down his stores’ floor space, cut prices to remain competitive with Amazon (AMZN) and to make “in-store customer-service experience is as good as” Apple’s (AAPL). WSJ reports that Schulze’s plan is dauntingly ambitious and will involve shuttering at least 50 big-box stores and cutting costs by $800 million by 2015. Such changes would could have a negative impact on Best Buy’s bottom line, which is why Schulze is considering taking the company private again so that he can focus on the big picture and make necessary changes without facing pressure from Wall Street. More →
Apple (AAPL) Stores around the country will now match Sprint’s sales price on the iPhone 4S, according to a recent report. Earlier this week, Sprint slashed the cost of buying a new iPhone 4S under contract by $86. The deep discount includes $50 off the retail price of an iPhone and a waived $36 activation fee. Now, according to a purported screenshot of Apple’s internal system published by MacRumors, Apple Stores have been given the go-ahead to match Sprint’s discounted price when approached by customers and asked to do so. The discount can only be given in stores according to the report, and it drops the price of a 16GB iPhone 4S to $149.99 while the 32GB model will cost $249.99 and the 64GB version will cost $349.99. More →
Other designs are possible. Whether or not Samsung builds devices that are “copies” of Apple’s iPhone and iPad models is open to debate, but there’s really no question that Samsung dipped into Apple’s design file when it laid out plans for its first North American retail store. Samsung’s very first retail establishment to hit this continent doesn’t look a little bit like an Apple Store — it’s an unabashed ripoff. From the minimalist design, to the floor plan, to the layout of devices, to the walls full of accessories, to the store reps roaming around in bright blue shirts… it’s uncanny. There’s no question Apple’s unique retail strategy works though, so if there’s one company Samsung should be looking to emulate, we suppose it’s Apple. In light of the current state of the companies’ relationship however, it’s definitely a ballsy move. A video tour of Samsung’s Canadian Apple Store from YouTube user “gillianvancouver” follows below. More →
The next time Apple fans head to their local stores for a Genius Bar consultation, they might notice some slight changes. ifoApplestore writes that Apple stores are changing their Genius Bar layouts ever-so-slightly to help accomodate more customers and to get their questions answered more quickly. Specifically, ifoApplestore says that the new layout being tested in an Apple Store will “pivot the [Genius Bar] table by 90-degrees so that it’s perpendicular to the rear wall of the store, and to eliminate the iconic kids seats and tables.” What’s more, the new layout will emphasize “the use of iPads to manage service records,” thus further increasing available space in the Genius Bar. ifoApplestore says that it doesn’t know whether Apple plans to roll out the revamped Genius Bar to other stores or if the company is still experimenting with different formats. More →
Following Best Buy’s announcement that it would shutter 50 retail locations as part of an effort to cut costs, one market research firm said it believes the decline of big-box consumer electronics retailers in the United States and Europe will continue. Canalys said in a report on Tuesday that it expects more big-name retailers to follow in the footsteps of companies like Best Buy Europe, CompUSA and Circuit City, which filed for bankruptcy in 2008 before closing all of its retail stores and selling its online brand. Big-box retailers’ failure to adapt as aggressive online companies such as Amazon grew rapidly is seen as the root cause of their woes. “They were hit by a perfect storm of competition from the Internet and supermarkets,” Canalys CEO Steve Brazier said in a statement. ”They lost too much business to competitors undercutting them on price and failed to respond to the many attractions of Amazon’s online approach, such as its vast stock ranges, peer reviews, recommendations, free delivery and excellent returns services.” Brazier continued, “Today’s consumers are even willing to browse for a book in a local store then order it from Amazon at a higher price simply because they want Amazon to understand their entire library, to optimize future recommendations. This is more than ‘showrooming’ – this signals a fundamental shift in consumer perception of value.” Canalys’s full press release follows below. More →
