“Apple Computer’s Mac Mini is finding its way to more store shelves, with Best Buy planning to carry the $499 computer nationwide,” Ina Fried writes for CNET News. “Mac fans have noted that the diminutive desktop appeared on some store shelves last weekend, and Merrill Lynch issued a research note on Monday talking about the potential impact of such a move. Apple confirmed the plans on Tuesday.”
“‘We are pleased to offer Mac Mini at Best Buy stores nationwide,’ Apple said in a statement to CNET News.com… Best Buy has been selling Macs online and also carries the iPod in its stores… Kevin Cockett, a Best Buy spokesman, said the retailer was ‘excited’ to begin carrying the Mac Mini in all of its stores. ‘It’s the latest innovation from Apple and strengthens Best Buy’s assortment of computers,'” Fried reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Let’s see if this one sticks. Let the Sears rumors begin!
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Analyst: Best Buy to stock Apple Mac mini, Tiger likely due by end of April – April 04, 2005
RUMOR: Best Buy to sell Mac mini in retail stores – March 29, 2005
boink
Anyone else tired of the on-again/off-again retailers for Apple hardware? Will Best Buy provide better service? Maintain the Mac demo units so that they actually function when a prospective buyer attempts to test one out? Stock and conveniently locate key Mac software so that a potential Mac buyer understands that the necessary software is readily available?
Increased exposure at retailers is not necessarily a good thing (e.g., Sears selling iMacs).
Several Best Buy employees also said they were “excited” about stocking the Mac mini.
“Normally when I spread FUD about Macs, so I can steer our customers over to our Wintel shitboxes, I like to refer to them as ‘toys.’ ” said one BB computer department employee. “The Mac mini will really help me play that up. I mean, look at the thing. There’s no way that could hold a serious computer that features cutting-edge, legitimately easy-to-use software and immunity to viruses and malware.”
The employee said the staff was looking forward to adorning the mini with pink bows to accentuate its sheer girliness compared to the hulking, powerful, masculine Wintel boxes alongside it.
“We just know we can’t put it right next to the iPods, though,” he said. “Or else people might start to make the connection.”
How many times will it take before Apple learns? Best Buy is NOT a good venue for selling Apple Computers! The salespeople there are all Windows PC oriented, know nothing about the Mac, and add to the perception that Macs are not real computers. The customers are all cheapskates, looking for $300 machines that come with monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Best Buy is the WORST POSSIBLE VENUE for selling Apple products.
“Let the Sears rumors begin!”
You mean Kmart. Although, as I understand it, they will be keeping the Sears name.
Still, I’m waiting for a “Blue-Light Special”–iMac minis in aisle 5…
“The salespeople there are all Windows PC oriented”
Actually, the salespeople there are Spiff oriented. If I, as a salesperson, can make $50 selling a Gateway PC versus making $0 selling a Mac, which would I promote?
Hm. Tough call…NOT.
Follower’s satire makes a good point. It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of Best Buy shoppers don’t see the mini as a serious computer. Their logic will be something like…
“hmmm, it’s only a tenth of the size of the E-Machine sitting next to it so it must not be able to do much… Oh yes I was right because it only half the Ghz speed as everything else. And so much for Apple’s supposed high-quality, the picture is horrible on this 15in. CRT display that it’s hooked up to…. What, it doesn’t even come with Windows??!!… and why doesn’t it have fifty gazillion ports in every conceivable spot like all the other computers? Must not be upgradeable… and so forth”
The more I think about it, the more I can see why Apple is building so many Apple retail stores. A person’s first experience of a Mac really should be in its proper environment – in an Apple store with knowledgeable people around. What Best Buy should do is hook it up to one of their HD TVs while wirelessly sending the sound to a nice home theater system via Airport Express. Let the consumer actually see how useful and practical it can be.
A former Fry’s employee explained to me how he was trained to steer people from the Mac aisle to the PC aisle because there’s more margin in the PCs. I’ve actually tested Fry’s salespeople on this and I believe he’s right.
I think Apple needs to expand on that cute multilingual “Welcome” screen. Now that they are using a DVD to store the software backups, why not include some interactive tutorial videos and hand holding applescripts to help newbies understand what they can do with a Mac and guide them through using the included software. I know the software is intuitive, but one has to consider the little old lady from Pasadina. It could even link into the .Mac system to provide tutorials in ALL languages that are supported.
The sales people at Best Buy are NOT sales people. They do NOT get any training on any product they sale. I have been in numberous stores many times and have yet to meet anyone there that has had any knowledge of the products that are for sale. I have even gone as far as contacting BB central (head office) and they gave me a script…I will never be back to a BB. Sorry Apple….will buy from the Apple store.
Who cares whether the sales staff are going to react negatively to the mac mini.
Best Buy have put down serious cash to stock the mini. Do you think they are going to have these units sitting around and not selling?
If the management get wind that the staff are turning potential customers away, then there will be trouble.
Just with the iPod, Apple are going to sell this baby anywhere they can. One of the reasons the iPod is still selling well is that it can be bought everywhere. That way you hit the casual buyer.
Hopefully the mac mini will be the same.
The deal with Best Buy over in 9 months.
Said the Best Buy exec in Jan 2006 – “Apple never promoted the product or the Tiger OS. They were relying on word of mouth.”
Anyone going to Best Buy to buy a computer hasn’t done their research. They sell absolute crap and it’s too expensive for what you get, if they even have in stock what you want to get.
Apple Store Online
Alienware
Dell
HP
Anything but retail… Retail sucks.
I’m also skeptical that this will last very long. Time and time again some big box retailer pics up Apple computers (well, their entry level models at least). It gets put on display in a good location for 1 month (if that), but the staff don’t get any training and are given incentives to sell higher margin store brand PCs. The store will stock all of 5 software titles for the Mac and Mac compatible peripherals will not be identified by employees because they don’t know any better.
After the initial hype dies down, the product will get relegated to a back corner and will not be maintained (no demos running). After sales die off because of all the above factors, they’ll stop stocking them and shortly after they will sell off their demo units as “open box” items and that will be the end of it. This has happened time and time again, no reason to think this will be any different…
The few reasons this helps Apple is because there is no doubt Best Buy will purchase at least a few thousand units which won’t be returnable. Sales are sales after all. Also the bit of exposure Apple gets for the short period won’t hurt. Also, if someone has made the decision to switch to a Mac, they’ll most likely do it regardless of what the BB sales people say, although they may actually dissuade more than a few not to.
Move on people, there’s nothing to see here…
There’s two flaws with the argument against doing this. Number one, everybody claims that the people at Best Buy know nothing about Macs. This is true. However, they also know nothing about PCs, audio equipment, TVs, or anything else they sell. They are all high school kids who stand around and chat about their classes with their buddies, who either also work there or hang out there every day. Number two, people argue that Best Buy is somehow the only place that is like this, when in reality they all are. Circuit City, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, etc, are all just as bad. Look at CompUSA, a freakin’ national computer store and yet Apple had to add their own staffers to the place. Unless they want Macs to never ever be sold at any mainstream store anywhere, there’s just no way to avoid it. Look at it like this: having the Mini at Best Buy will not cause Apple to sell less computers, therefore it’s a good thing. Sure, if the staff were better they might sell more, but they will still sell some. Unless my math teachers only passed me so I’d be somebody else’s problem, I’m pretty sure some is better than none. So take the sales you get and go home happy in six months if it doesn’t work out.
Seems to me that nobody wanted to carry the iPod either until it caught fire! Now almost every store carries them.
The fact that Best Buy wants to carry the Mac mini indicates to me that there is quite a demand for the mini – and Best Buy is simply reacting to that demand.
I hope this works for Apple, but BB has a horrible track record. I like the store-within-a store concept at CompUSA, and they actually carry Mac software titles and know about the equipment.
I think if Apple developed a small kiosk/mini store setup, with software, accessories, iPods, and helpful information, they could use this in BB, Target, Sears, etc. succesfully. They could use their cool Apple design to make it a destination in these big box stores.
Don’t forget that in Best Buy and other stores, vendors often pay for product placement (just take a look at a Best Buy ad to see what I mean – Napster and partners pay big $$ for placement and promotion). Apple have to play their game in order to be successful.
When my Apple dealer did not have stock on the mini I went to Best Buy to see if I could purchase one. They had a demo, but no stock either. I would have purchased it at Best Buy if it was available.
I don’t think it is the best thing for Apples image to sell computers through Best Buy. On the other hand it is not the best thing for Apples image to have such a small market share.
I remember Commodore 64’s being sold at K-mart and other department stores. Vic 20’s at Eaton’s etc.
We have BestBuy here in Canada, Toronto more specifically.. and I must agree that the staff generally have little product knowledge. They have been selling Mac Minis since they became available here. My experiences.. hmmmm… the wireless keyboard is not hooked up, althought the are using a nice 15’flat panel for display. I set up iTunes running with the visualizer, when I returned some minutes later the screen saver had kicked in with black screen only and a salesperson was explaining to a customer how it must have crashed again as a press on the (non-functioning) space bar failed to wake the unit. I explained to him the keyboard wasn’t connected, then I proceeded to click the mouse and voila like magic, it was up and running. My helpfullness was greeted with a very displeasant scowl from the salesman. They push the Creative units also when there is no iPod stock, although they claim to not work on commission.
BestBuy & Apple? Not unless something changes.
Dave
Eric the Red
Anyone going to Best Buy to buy a computer hasn’t done their research
Also,
Anyone who thinks Apple has no software hasn’t done their research.
Anyone who thinks Windows is the only OS on Earth hasn’t done their research
Anyone who thinks Macs are $2000 hasn’t done their research
Anyone who thinks Office doesn’t run on Mac OS X hasn’t done their research
Anyone who thinks Macs don’t support multi-button mice hasn’t done their research
Apple Computers have about a 3% market share.. what’s your point?
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American People.
This is a good deal. The pricing of the Mac mini gives it great potential to be an impulse buy so the more people it is in front of the better. Apple should up the standard memory to 512 though. A lot of people will be getting a reduced impression of OS X because they are buying machines will minimal memory.
(FWIW, I posted similar comments on the Virus thread…)
To extend “mike’s” post…
. .. …
[Tell people why to own a mac, not why they shouldn´t own a pc.]
Maybe MDN can enact this progressive policy by following the lead by ‘journalists’ that remind their readers to buy only WinPCs because:
– Macs have no software.
– Macs are too expensive.
– Macs have NO games, like the ‘real business computers’ do.
– Macs suck.
– Macs can’t run MS-Office.
– Macs are ONLY good for graphics. (But, not games) !?
– Macs aren’t available everywhere, like at WalMart and 7-11.
– Macs can only use one-button mice.
– Macs can’t DO the internet.
– Macs don’t use Windows.
– Macs aren’t $249.
Any other reasons are welcome.
Sure enough, I did see a Mac mini in Best Buy in Palmdale, Ca..
Guest what?! No one knew how it operated….go figure. Mini sell thou self, because they will not.
Note to Apple: INCREASE THE RAM TO 512.
So good luck Apple.
Methinks it’s time to commit to working at BestBuy for free… that is, go there and play with the Mac mini, showing off iLife apps while you’re at the store on your Saturday afternoons… or whenever it’s convenient.
We sure know the BestBuy employees won’t.