“Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work” ⇥

Horace Dediu works his magic on Apple’s retail numbers. My favourite part is the top chart.

The title comes from this oft-mocked 2001 Business Week piece:

“I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake,”

Obviously, the Apple of 2001 was in a different position than they are today. Hindsight is incredibly revealing. But these naysayers were prevalent at the time, and they persist today, as John Moltz notes:

It was pretty conventional to bet against Apple back in 2001. And, based on the previous 10 years, it was a decent bet. What amazes me is that people are still doing it without consideration. Sure, Apple may screw something big up in the near term, but the odds of that happening are pretty slim.