Samsung Opens New Apple Store In Australia 154
An anonymous reader writes "Samsung opened its first retail 'Experience' store in Sydney, Australia today and its design and ethos, even in the most generous light, bear an uncanny resemblance to those of the Apple Store. Now, to be fair, Samsung’s corporate color is blue and there are only so many ways you can design a retail experience. That said, it seems difficult to look at Samsung’s store and not immediately be reminded of Apple’s understated chain of brick-and-mortar retail stores which, at the time it debuted, was considered pioneering. And it’s awfully hard to imagine that the similarities between the two won’t further bolster Apple’s allegations that Samsung is a 'copyist.'" This comes on the heels of both companies claiming the other is "anticompetitive" during Tuesday’s summations in the Apple-Samsung trial.
Apple store? Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Apple store? Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, this has the look of a typical Australian mobile phone retailer - and they've all looked this way for over a decade.
Re:Apple store? Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
Samsung has had stands like these in various UK shopping centres pop up for years, well before Apple even opened it's stores.
The Sydney store just looks like a shop full of the sorts of stands Samsung has always had, so calling it an Apple store is a bit of a joke. If anything it would suggest Apple copied Samsung's style of popup stands, but it wasn't even just Samsung.
In shopping centres in the UK these sorts of stands have been commonplace for other vendors too, it's not something unique to Apple. Even Sony's stores dating back quite some years in major shopping centres here in the UK tended to look like this. It's a style that many mobile phone shops have used for well over a decade also.
The only unique thing about Apple stores is, that they have Apple logos plastered around in them, the airy layout, style of furniture etc. was never either new or unique to Apple.
What next? Walmart copied Apple because Walmart stores have doors and Apple stores do too?
Re:copy (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm obviously not as smart as you, because I can't think of any. I suppose they could hang the products from the ceiling and make the floor a massive trampoline.
Care to enlighten us by naming, say, ten alternatives to having stuff on tables & shelves?
Re:Apple store? Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
High end audio shops (B&O, Bose) have been doing that sort of thing for decades. Personally I always thought that Apple shops looked like art galleries. Very minimal with all the focus on the art. You could say it's prior art.
Same retail experience? (Score:2, Interesting)
Do you mean Samsung will require customers to make an appointment to speak to a store employee? Even if all they did was to pick up a headphone or adapter cord from the display and they just want to pay for it and get out? But they've got to wait their turn behind some moron who can't find the 'Any' key on their new MacBook?
Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.