Angela Ahrendts joins Apple. That is three A's!

Enough fun, back to business. Did you see that Angela Ahrendts announced that she is quitting Burberry (the business she has run for 7 years so far) to join Apple, as head of their retail division. We have all be thinking over the last few days in the office and the conclusion that we came to was that people can shout from the rooftops suggesting that Apple should be looking to have an offering to the bottom end of the market, but who cares if it is a soft luxury item, right. Should you care as a shareholder that they concentrate on solid margins and superior products? Steve Jobs apparently compared Apple to BMW and Mercedes Benz. No matter how many or few you sell, you still want the luxurious and enduring qualities that attract your customers, old and new. Here is an outstanding piece from the FT (sorry, subscription only): The control freak formula at Apple and Burberry. Ahrendts is a tall individual, six foot three, and has all the qualities that Apple are looking for!



At the same time the news is filtering through that the consumer thinks the same thing. How so? Well, simple enough, the "cheaper" version of the phone has not reached the sales figures as of yet, but the more expensive 5s model is the one that everyone wants. I guess if you are spending that much money on a phone you might as well get the most expensive version, not so? The expectation levels have risen furiously, with the models suggesting that 50 million phones will be sold in the holiday quarter. So you see. The customer might always be right then, and the chattering classes are almost always just chattering. What I am trying to say is that perhaps this is NOT the worst news, fewer plastic phones, more classic phones. The next event from the company is on the 22nd where new iPad versions (both the mini and the large) are expected to be released.