Microsoft has been criticized for trying to copy Apple’s example when it comes to its stores, but Black Friday statistics actually prove that there’s a huge difference in the way the two companies are selling their products.
Gene Munster's team at Piper Jaffray kept track of traffic inside the Apple Store in the Mall of America in Minneapolis, trying to determine how many people actually buy the iPad as compared to the previous years.
They did the same for two hours with a Microsoft Store, again in an attempt supposed to find out if the Surface attracts more buyers
than its fiercest tablet rival.
Citing the findings,
CNN Money writes that Microsoft had 47 percent less traffic in its store in the two hours, but the biggest problem is that most of those who stepped in the store were mainly lookers, probably with the intention to give the Surface a spin.
While the Apple Store sold an average of 11 iPads per hour, the Microsoft Store across the hall failed to sell at least one
Surface tablet in the two-hour monitoring interval.
This is clearly bad news for Microsoft, as the company has invested heavily in its advertising blitz, with inside information pointing to a marketing budget of up to $1.8 billion (€1.3 billion) for both the Surface tablet and Windows 8.
The Surface tablet, on the other hand, seems to sell like hot cakes online, as the cheapest model was sold out in less than 24 hours after Microsoft officially rolled out the pre-order program.
The device is available in three different versions, starting with a 32 GB flavor without a Touch Cover and ending with the top-of-the-range 64 GB model with the magic keyboard included. Pricing starts at $499 (€380) for the entry level version and goes up to $699 (€540) for the 64 GB model.
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