Apple announced this morning that John Browett will be joining Apple as their new Senior Vice President of Retail. Browett will be leaving his current position as CEO of Dixons Retail.
Apple® today announced that John Browett will join the company as senior vice president of Retail, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Browett comes to Apple from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he has been CEO since 2007. Beginning in April, he will be responsible for Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.
“Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple.”
Prior to the role of CEO of Dixons Retail, Browett held executive positions at Tesco plc including CEO of Tesco.com, and previously advised retail and consumer goods clients at Boston Consulting Group. B rowett holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Wharton Business School.
Browett replaces Ron Johnson who left Apple for J.C. Penny in November. Johnson has been credited as being the driving force behind Apple's massive success in their retail initiative.
Dixons Retail is one of the largest consumer retailers in Europe with over 40,000 employees. Dixons has already announced that Browett's role will be filled internally by Sebastian James. Browett officially makes the transition to Apple in April.
Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by Juli Clover
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.
Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year.
Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by Juli Clover
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro.
The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.
The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie.
The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
This really doesn't bode well. Hopefully this guy is leaving Dixons due to frustration with them, rather than seeing the writing is on the wall for current technology vendors.
Dixons retails closed their Dixons brand stores in the UK, a number of their Currys and PC World stores merged.
The shopping experience is frustrating - you can get accosted by 5 different members of staff as you browse the store - all asking 'are you ok there ? ' - staff are not very knowledgeable, products are poorly displayed, shelf labels are often missing, pricing differs in store and on the website, they are very eager to push warranties and technical support packages. They also have a lot of cheap crap sold at higher prices.
They have a new store concept - Currys PC World Black - where they are blatantly trying to emulate an Apple store - but it is screamingly obvious you are still in a PC World despite the lighting, benches, and smug staff.
I really hope since 2007 he's made Dixons a different place to shop than it used to be (I don't frequent their stores) prior to that:
Pushy, seemingly commission-based sales staff more interested in huddling in groups or being sleazy, rude and patronising. Trying to sell anything that's out of date or fashionable as if it will suit the customers needs perfectly. Horribly cramped retail environments with everything locked down and alarmed so you can't pick items up to try them out.
Unreasonably inflated prices that aren't helping to pay for a modern shopping experience with innovative features, or great customer service.
And so on
I hope Tim Cook and his team haven't been bamboozled!
(I'm sure they haven't, it just seems like such a mismatch in retail philosophies and I hope John Browett fully subscribes to the Apple way of retailing.)
An excerpt of the conversation I had with a salesperson the last time I stepped foot inside a Dixons (at Heathrow Terminal 4):
"How can I help you today Sir?"
"Well, I have this camera here, and the battery is dead, so I "
"So what you'll needing then is a new battery. No problem. We have just want you want right here. That'll be £45. Do you want to pay by cash, credit card, or blood?"
"Um, well actually I was thinking more about getting a char ."
"Ahh so what you'll be wanting then in which case sir is our universal international battery charger that comes complete with an international power adapter. That'll be just £60 to you. Now if you'll just give me your direct debit details so we can randomly remove funds from your bank account twice a month for the rest of your life ."
"Well, ah, actually I already have the international adapter thing so really all I need is the charger please."
"I see. And you bought that from us did you sir?"
"Um no, sorry. I got it somewhere else."
"Somewhere else. Well sir, we strongly recommend our own international adapters to go with any goods we sell. I can do that for you today at just £15. Would you like the 5 year protection plan to go with that for £349.99?"
"Actually, I honestly think I'll be fine with the adapter I already have. If it's not too much trouble can I just get the charger by itself please?"
"This is most unprecedented sir. Obviously we can't be held responsible if your current adapter turns out to be faulty and explodes on the plane burning you and 300 other people to a crisp and leaving your relatives with nothing to bury when they finally scrape you off the ocean floor. But, the customer is always right I suppose. DEEPAK, CAN YOU GRAB A CRAPTEL XV694a FROM THE BACK ROOM FOR THIS GENTLEMAN? NO INTERNATIONAL ADAPTER"
"Sorry, did you say *no* international adapter?"
"THAT'S WHAT THE GENTLEMAN WANTS"
"Did you tell him about the risk of death by horrific burning?"
"YES, THE GENTLEMAN IS ADAMANT"
"This is most unprecedented."
"QUITE. I HAVE ALREADY EXPLAINED THIS TO THE GENTLEMAN. HE SEEMS HAPPY TO RISK THE LIVES OF HIS FELLOW PASSENGERS. IF YOU SEE REPORTS OF A PLANE EXPLODING OVER THE ATLANTIC ON THE NEWS TONIGHT, AT LEAST YOU'LL KNOW WHOSE FAULT IT IS. PLEASE FETCH THE CHARGER FOR THE GENTLEMAN. If you'd like to accompany me to the desk sir then we can clean you out and have you on your way in no time"
This forum is delusional (as is often the case these days).
Yeah, we're all just here to hate because we have nothing better to do. It's not because we have decades of direct experience of the retail establishments that this guy can cite as his track record or anything like that. All we want to do is baselessly bash him for the hell of it because we're overflowing with unbridled misanthropy and an irratioanal hate for all things Apple.
I have never heard of Dixon's
Yet you still assume that we're all looking on this news negatively because it's an inherent flaw in our personalities rather than our real world experience being reflected in our comments. OK.
Apple announced this morning that John Browett will be joining Apple as their new Senior Vice President of Retail. Browett will be leaving his current position as CEO of Dixons Retail.
