BUSINESS BRIEFS
iPhone demand, buying process burden Apple
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Apple's experiencing serious Microsoft-type growing pains with its launch of the new iPhone that went on sale two weeks ago.
It's not just that Apple can't satisfy demand for the phones. A new, longer process to activate the iPhone is making the in-store buying process much longer and keeping customers waiting in line and fuming for hours.
Yesterday, Apple Stores in Los Angeles; New York; Seattle; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; and Arlington, Va., said they were sold out of the $199 iPhone.
Saturday, Apple altered its store hours to try to handle demand, saying it would open daily except Sunday at 8 a.m. to serve iPhone buyers.
Along with the new, faster and cheaper iPhone (originally sold for $599 in 2007), Apple introduced software aimed at businesses called MobileMe, a way to sync corporate e-mail with the iPhone and work accounts.
MobileMe has been fraught with problems — more than 70 bugs have needed repair — causing Apple to post several apologies online.
Independent analyst Rob Enderle compares the iPhone relaunch with Microsoft's poorly received debut in late 2006 of Vista, the Windows upgrade that had consumers howling when it didn't work as advertised.
"Vista wasn't finished, and that's what the iPhone feels like," he said. "It's been rushed onto market, even though it wasn't ready."
BEST BUY PLANS MUSIC CENTERS
CHICAGO — Hoping to cater to everyone from the garage guitarist to a recording musician, Best Buy Co. Inc. is announcing a massive new initiative that sets aside store space for an array of musical instruments and gear in dozens of sites nationwide.
The nation's largest consumer electronics retailer will announce tomorrow that it plans to open as many as 85 of the music centers inside its stores by the end of the year and could add even more locations in the future, executives told The Associated Press.
Each site will use about 2,500 square feet of retail space and include roughly 1,000 different products with well-known brand names such as Fender, Gibson, Drum Workshop and Roland.
The Richfield, Minn.-based retailer — already an industry leader in sales of everything from digital cameras to video games — will use its headfirst jump into the $8 billion U.S. musical instrument market to carve out new revenue opportunities as sales of CDs and DVDs slow, experts said.
GERMAN AIRPORTS BRACE FOR STRIKE
BERLIN — Frankfurt and Hamburg airports will be the hardest hit today when 52,000 employees of Lufthansa AG go on strike, a union official said yesterday.
All other German airports served by Germany's biggest airline will also be affected by the massive walkout, Ver.di spokesman Harald Reutter told The Associated Press.
The union, which represents workers of Lufthansa ground crews and service personnel, sought a pay increase of 9.8 percent early this year. The union rejected a Lufthansa offer of 6.7 percent spread through February 2010, plus a one-time bonus payment, and the dispute has not been resolved.
The union and the airline were not in discussions over the weekend.
QANTAS PICKS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
SYDNEY, Australia — Qantas Airways said today it has appointed the head of its offshoot airline Jetstar, Alan Joyce, as chief executive officer.
Joyce will replace Geoff Dixon, who plans to retire after the company's annual meeting on Nov. 28, the airline said in a statement.
Joyce assumed the role of chief executive designate today and will work with Dixon over the next four months to ensure a smooth transition, Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford said.
