Andre Yoskowitz
15 Feb 2009 19:53
Microsoft has announced that they will be opening brick and mortar retail stores around the United States and confirmed the appointment of David Porter as vice president of Retail Stores.
Porter, a former VP at Wal-Mart, will need to determine "the timing, locations and specific details of the stores."
The new move will help the software giant to compete with Apple, which has 251 retail stores that brought in $1.74 billion USD revenue for 2008.
Porter added the stores would give consumers better direct access to products such as the upcoming Windows 7, as well as the Zune media players and the Xbox 360 gaming console.
“This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live and Windows Mobile," Porter added.
“I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we’ll share learnings from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success,” he concluded.