Note that this article was written in May 2001. The iPod was announced in October 2001. Nobody saw it coming, and even after it arrived lots of people doubted that it would sell. If the iPod hadn't been invented, it's possible that Business Week's analysis would have held up better -- the iPod drives a lot of shoppers into the Apple Stores.
All the doom-and-gloom comparisons to the Gateway Store look hilarious now. My understanding is that the Gateway Stores were not the problem; it was the Gateways that were the problem.
You are exactly correct. Minus the iPod, their stores probably would have ended a miserable failure. With the iPod, and the resulting Apple hype, they've become one of the highest profit per sq ft stores ever invented.
I recently read something similar about Kleiner Perkins investing in "The Google.com Company" and how risky it was and how unlikely Google was to succeed against the "giant" of Yahoo.
Great article, but then hindsight always is. I've always been an admirer of Jobs, despite his purported failings. How Apple continues into the future will be interesting to see.
I too scoffed at the pretentious Apple store until I tried editing video on a PC. Soon I too was walking out of an Apple store with happy with my purchase. I scoff no more.
Note that this article was written in May 2001. The iPod was announced in October 2001. Nobody saw it coming, and even after it arrived lots of people doubted that it would sell. If the iPod hadn't been invented, it's possible that Business Week's analysis would have held up better -- the iPod drives a lot of shoppers into the Apple Stores.
All the doom-and-gloom comparisons to the Gateway Store look hilarious now. My understanding is that the Gateway Stores were not the problem; it was the Gateways that were the problem.