Apple Retail Chief Admits Staffing Mistake

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By Ian Sherr

SAN FRANCISCO—Apple Inc.’s retail boss told employees the company made mistakes with its staffing levels, leading to news reports that the company was cutting employees, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In a communication with store leadership teams, senior vice president of retail, John Browett, who took the reins of Apple’s retail stores in April, said the company had been trying a new staffing formula for its retail stores.

The formula caused hourly shifts to be cut for some employees and retail locations to be understaffed. This happened for a few weeks before the company decided to revert to its older system, hoping to rectify the problem.

He instructed leadership teams to tell employees, “We messed up,” according to two people who were aware of the communication, which also stressed that while shift schedules were affected, no one was laid off. He also wanted employees to know that it was hiring new staff, these people said.

 

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

 

(Published Aug 16, 2012, in The Wall Street Journal.)

Tech Entrepreneurs Get a Hand Pairing Up

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By Ian Sherr

When David Hegarty moved to San Francisco from Seattle in 2009 to start a company, he had a problem: He didn’t know anyone he could to team up with.

Mr. Hegarty, now 34 years old, was a business guy who knew how to manage sales, make deals and strike partnerships. What he needed was an engineer.

On a whim, he signed up with FounderDating, a website that aims to help people find a partner to jointly pour blood, sweat and tears into a start-up.

“Unlike normal dating, finding someone to start a company with is not a process that’s well understood,” says Jessica Alter, who co-founded San Francisco-based FounderDating three years ago with Saar Gur, a partner with Charles River Ventures.

FounderDating is one of a growing number of businesses and services trying to match tech-company founders. Competitors range from Maryland-based CoFoundersLab to prominent venture-capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, which funded companies including Google Inc. and LinkedIn Corp.

 

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(Published Aug 10, 2012, in The Wall Street Journal.)

Apple Stores to Match Discounts on iPhones

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By Ian Sherr

The company has begun telling retail employees that they may offer discounts of $49 on the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4 to customers who cite lower prices from other outlets, according to  two people familiar with the matter.

The outlets include stores operated by Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and Sprint Nextel Corp., according to Apple‘s communications with employees.

The company didn‘t tell employees why it is offering these discounts, these people said, and has not advertised the reduced price. Apple‘s move was first reported by the MacRumors blog.

The Cupertino, Calif., company doesn‘t usually offer price matching for its devices and, aside from education and corporate discounts, it rarely offers steep price cuts unless a product has been replaced with a new version.

An exception was the company‘s annual back-to-school sale, during which Apple would offer as much as a $199 rebate if students purchased an iPod music player along with a qualifying computer around the summer months. Apple stopped offering that discount last year, choosing to offer an education-themed $100 gift card to its digital iTunes music and app stores alongside its computers instead.

The discounts come as Apple is widely believed to be readying a new version of its iPhone, which is expected to sport a thinner yet longer screen, measuring at least 4 inches diagonally, among other things.

Apple last month announced sales and profits that missed analyst expectations, largely on disappointing sales of the iPhone, its largest source of revenue. At the time, industry-watchers said consumers were likely holding out for a new iPhone model anticipated this fall, much like they had last year. The iPhone 4S, Apple‘s latest model, was released last October.

“Our weekly iPhone sales continue to be impacted by rumors and speculation regarding new products,“ Peter Oppenheimer, the company‘s chief financial officer, said on a conference call with analysts to discuss its earnings in July.

The miss was only the second time in 39 quarters that the company reported results below expectations.

 

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(Published Aug 9, 2012, in The Wall Street Journal Digits blog.)

Apple’s Secrets Revealed at Trial

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By Ian Sherr

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Apple Inc., one of the world’s most secretive companies, is finding there’s a price in pushing its grievances against rival Samsung Electronics Co. in federal court: disclosure.

In just the first few days of its patent trial this week, Apple has publicly discussed how it created the iPhone and iPad, showed early designs of the devices and described intimate details about its product team.

It also gave glimpses into its strategy and customers, and each fact—like an internal survey showing that 78% of iPhone owners buy cases—was quickly disseminated and discussed in tweets and blog posts by people tracking the high-stakes case.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of world-wide marketing, took the stand Friday and revealed how much Apple spends on marketing the devices at the center of the case. He discussed a document that said Apple had spent $647 million advertising the iPhone in the U.S., from its release in 2007 through its fiscal year 2011. For the iPad, which debuted in 2010, he put the amount at $457.2 million.

Much of the trial so far has concentrated on how Apple’s design teams came up with the ideas for iPhones and iPads. Apple is trying to prove that Samsung copied its designs, while Samsung is demonstrating to the jury that its devices are different and that Apple was inspired by Sony Corp.’s products.

 

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(Published Aug 4, 2012, in The Wall Street Journal.)