“Best Buy, North America’s largest consumer electronics retailer, and Apple are flogging the new MacBook units, as well as the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and iMac systems, said Samir Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis. The Mac maker has prominent displays and units available in several Best Buy stores throughout the United States, he said,” Tom Krazit reports for CNET News.
Krazit reports, “Best Buy has been selling Apple’s popular iPod music players and Mac Minis for some time, but the latest move represents a major expansion of Apple’s retail efforts with Best Buy, as well as those outside of its own retail stores, Bhavnani said.”
“The move should help Apple get ready for the back-to-school shopping season, which is generally considered to be the second-busiest period of the year for the PC industry, Bhavnani said. The move also shows that Apple is very confident about the inventory situation regarding its new Intel-based products, he said,” Krazit reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “NeverFade” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: We can’t wait to start hearing Best Buy Mac anecdotes again.
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Worst Buy can kiss my a$$…
Doesn’t look good even on the website – the MacBook photo is of the MacBook Pro…
Buy a COMPUTER at Best Buy? I don’t think so! Maybe a Mac sooner than a PC, but not likely.
<u>CompUSA</u> is a couple steps above Best Buy when it comes to selling computers (as opposed to trying to convince you to buy ‘product’) and I wouldn’t buy a Mac there, either. They have local volunteers come in semi-regularly to answer questions – or correct staff comments.
<u>MicroCenter</u>, at least in Cambridge, has people who know Macs maning the 5% of the store devoted to Macs. Not that the folk in the rest of the store don’t “know their stuff”, but the ones in the Mac section know their Macs. Closer to a real Apple Store than to either of the others. With two Apple Stores less than a half hour’s drive away, I’m likely to shop for my next computer at the real thing. I get magazines, extra hardware, and software at MicroCenter, but not the computer itself. My NAS (a 250GB HD with Ethernet connection) came from there, and my thumb drives.
If sales of Macs at Best Buy don’t attain desired numbers Best Buy will likely get the boot. There’s no point is using Best Buy as open warehouse if Macs don’t move into the hands of consumers.
BestBuy in Canada does carry the iBook, iMac and Mac mini. (notice I said iBook, not Macbook (pro))
They carry them, I would not come close to saying that they sell them.
I hope that this venture is combined with resources that will a) support the sales and b) train the BestBuy staff. Even if they are not selling the computers, they need to know about the Macs. This way, they won’t bad mouth the Macs just because they don’t know anything about them.
What will be interesting is the Quarter End sales results of sold Apple computers compared to Windows-based machines. People who may never have considered a Mac to now be able to make a side-by-side comparison to the lesser Windows OS.
My concern is the the sales staff: they will have to be extremely educated in the differences between Macs and all of the other junk.
I wouldn’t be surpised if Apples sales through Best Buy at the end of the 3rd Q next year are better, or equal, to the combined sales of whatever Windows PCs they carry.
Jimmy Jam –
How do you figure a “fresh reboot” will help the Macs?
I welcome this Best Buy channel so there will be more Mac software available at a shorter drive.
It all boils down to this: How much commission do the salespeople make selling a Dell? An HP? And how much will they make now selling Macs? Hopefully more than they did the last time, and the time before that….
The 17″ MacBook Pro is 99 cents more at Best Buy ($2799.99) than from Apple ($2799.00).
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7837184&type=product&id=1142299957200
Best Buy has never put a whole lot of effort into selling Macs, everytime they start they end up stopping within a month or two. I would really be happy if they put some real effort into not only selling Macs but software for Macs as well. And I’m talking lots of software like you see at the Apple stores. A real selection and not just a sample shelf like they usually do at other stores. This would really sell more Macs as it would impress some of these PC users who think that know one still sells any software so what good is buying a Mac type of thinking.
The sales will know nothing and not care… seen it over and over and over… unless it’s a cheap PC. it won’t get any support.
And because the workers go home and play on their pc until it’s time to go to work the next day – the cycle will continue.
I hope they EDUCATE the Best Buy staff. That is the biggest detractor of sales there! They are all PC heads, and clueless about Apple features.
Apple shoud give each Best Buy Tech salesperson a Mini to use while employed so they can educate themselves.
Nothin’ better than a knowledgeable switcher to encourage a sale.
I think this will help if for no other reason than it will help exposure. We don’t have an Apple Store here in Birmingham and our CompUSA has gone way downhill in the last year or two (the Mac section is back in one corner away from all the iPod stuff). Our local Mac shops are great, but only people who already have Macs know about them. So the only way for a non-Mac person to see a new MacBook in person is to drive to Atlanta (2 and a half hours away) or Nashville (3 hours away). Now if they would just send some Macs to the Best Buys here.
Hey “me”
Still won’t make a difference in Mac software quantities. The margins aren’t enough to care.
I’ve NEVER had a good experience purchasing ANYTHING at Best Buy. The sales staff are incompetent and lazy. They stand around and talk to each other and act like they don’t even see you. I’ve even had a Best Buy employee criticize my purchase as I was walking out the door! If Apple wants to put hardware in markets where they don’t have Apple Stores they should go back to small retailers who actually know their products and care about their customers. Instead they put huge purchasing demands on anyone wanting to be an Apple Authorized Reseller and unless you’re moving (or just purchasing) huge amounts of product your margins are so small from Apple pricing that you can hardly make a profit. This is one of only a few subjects where I don’t understand Apple’s position.
the level of training the BB staff has on macs does worry me.
i should apply for a sales job over there – i can be known as “the mac guy”, and if anyone has any questions, they refer the customer to me – and seeing as BB computer guys make comission (if i recall hearing correctly), well… =)
anyone else who currently finds themselves with a lousy job or unemployed might consider doing the same. make a difference!
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I can only imagine the scenario now.
Me: Hello, I’d like to buy a MacBook.
Best Buy Guy: Macs are just toys. There’s no Intel chip in them…
Me: Yes they do! This one has an Intel Core Duo!
BBG: … you can’t run Microsoft Office…
Me: See that box over there?
BBG: Oh, but that’s for Windows.
Me: Look on the box… it says “Office:Mac 2004”.
BBG: OK… but Macs are now more vulnerable than this HP Pavilion dv2000. With Geek Squad services, the HP is far more secure than the macBook.
Me: There were 114,000 Windows viruses last year and NONE for Mac OS X!
BBG: Either way, you’ll need our 3-year service plan.
Ugh.
MDN MW: “knew”; as in I knew that this wouldn’t be a good idea
Oh man, I hate Best Buy! They are even lower than CompUSA. Apple should not do this. These “children” working at Best Buy are not what Apple needs to sell it’s quality products. I would not buy a Mercedes or BMW from some car reseller that carries Saturn or Hyundai. This will have a negative impact on Apple in a number of ways, image and knowledge of product just to name a couple. NO NO NO Apple!!!!
F best buy and their horrible hireing and training practices.
They are there to make money, but they are also evil.
It was a big deal when Best Buy started carrying gumdrop iMacs in the late ’90s.
Then they stopped selling Apple computers.
It was a big deal when Best Buy started selling desklamp iMacs and Powerbooks.
Then they stopped selling Apple computers.
Now it’s supposed to be a big deal that they’re going to be selling flat iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros? Spare me. They’ll stop selling them in about a year citing low sales, just like the last few times they tried selling Apple computers.
I was in Best Buy once during the era where they were selling desklamp iMacs. One old couple was really interested in buying one, but the sales girl actively dissuaded them from making the purchase. She told them, “It’s not compatible with other computers, so if someone emails you a picture, you won’t be able to open it.”
That was the dealbreaker for those “yahoo and email” grandparents, and it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I regret not saying anything at the time, I didn’t want to point out how dumb the girl was or get her fired, but now I regret that. I should have tried to get her fired.
I’m sure gramdma and grandpa enjoyed fighting with popups, viruses, porn hijacks, and spyware on their shiny new HP running Windows.
Best Buy has never effectively sold Macs. Period. How many times over the past few years have you seen Macs pop up in their stores only to see them disappear a few months later? Then all you could do was buy them on their website. A few months later, THAT disappeared too!
So what makes anyone think that this will be any different? I go to Best Buy for CDs and DVDs now, and I wouldn’t buy anyhing else there. They Suck @SS.
It says in several Best Buy stores —-as in there is not Apple store within 20-50 miles.
The mere fact that people say they worry whether the wonders of Mac ownership can be explained by a barely computer literater salesperson to an equally illiterate consumer miss the point.
If a Mac needs a sophisticated sales process with a lot of customer education, then that’s a problem Apple needs to fix.
Bottom line is, in an outfit like Best Buy or Comp USA, if you as a vendor rely on the ability of the salesperson to explain in any technical detail why your customer should buy box X or Box Y, you’re in trouble.
I actually love Best Buy, but I always go in with eyes wide open.
RULE #1 — NEVER RELY ON THE STAFF FOR ANYTHING! If you know what you want before you walk in the door, Best Buy is a great place to get a good price. Just don’t expect their underpaid teenage idiot staff to help.
Best Buy is my #1 place for DVDs and video games. Their credit card charges no interest for 90 days to 6 months, depending on the size of the purchase, so I’ve purchased a dishwasher, an iPod, and a Mac mini among other major things.
But I’ve always been 95% sure what I wanted before setting foot in the place. I’ll ask questions of the staff to plumb whatever meager knowledge they have, but I never listen to their purchase suggestions.