Comments on: Microsoft Store opens directly across from Apple Store: the consumer wins

By: GN

GN — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:51:23 +0000

Don’t forget that there is a Best Buy in the Mall of America on the third floor. I might be tempted to go there to see if there are any EMTs present for the upcoming mall tech war.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:27:49 +0000

Yup, not sure I get it. While Apple haters might not want to step foot in a store, nobody can deny the idea has worked for them. It fits their style of sales and customer support and they have a nice line of stylish equipment to bring it all together.

I’m left wondering what Microsoft will sell in their store. Cups? Mugs? Microsoft mice? Kinda like putting a K-mart store next to a BMW dealership.

I suppose consumers can win if they want to pick up a version of Windows 7 to run in their new iMac via Parallels or Fusion… but I can do that (cheaper most likely) at Best Buy, which I’m sure the Mall of America provides.

By: Boy WeHo

Boy WeHo — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:31:01 +0000

And just how does the consumer win? If I want a brand new Mac for $500, do you think Apple’s gonna sell me one for that because Microsoft is now across the way? No. If I want Internet Explorer on my Mac, because I use it on my PC at work, do you Microsoft is gonna give me that because now they’re across the way from Apple? No.

The idea that “the consumer wins” only works w/ companies who sell the same thing, like 2 banks or 2 gas stations: they can lower their price or give you something for free so you don’t go across the street. Apple and Microsoft are fairly mutually exclusive; you’re simply not going to find the identical thing in both stores.

For all of Microsoft’s stupid “Laptop Hunters” ads, Microsoft doesn’t make laptops. They make the operating system that runs on them, but they have no control of how much or little they cost. And Apple and “Microsoft” are already across the aisle from each other, in every Best Buy. Consumers don’t need to go to the Mall of America to “win.”