According to NPD retail consumer technology sale fell by 2 percent last year to $143 billion, so you would think that Apple suffered a little in the downturn, as it happens though they managed to increase sales by 2.6%.

In 2011 Apples total consumer technology sales topped 17.3% of total tech sales in the U.S, and in 2012 that market share increased to 19.9%. Pretty astonishing still, but it isn’t just Apple raking in the cash as rival Samsung also saw a similar increase from 8.2 % to 9.3%.

Looking at the figures it comes as no surprise that Google want to get in on the action with their own retail stores rumored to open as early as this year.

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Google has their fingers in many pies, but there might be just enough room for one more in form of physical retail stores. Rumors originally appeared on Friday over at 9to5Google, and were later corroborated by a report on the Wall Street Journal.

Both stories cite unnamed sources, but with varying time frames, 9to5Google says we could see Google stores by the end of the year while the WSJ suggest they are some ways off.

The high street looks to us as the perfect place for Google to expand in to as they have already taken over most web users browsing, search and email experience, Android TV’s are invading the living-room and most phone users carry an Android device in their pocket.

Now all we need is a place to spend our money from Google wallet, via our NFC equipped Nexus device to be driven home by a Google self drive car! What do you think, should Google get into the “store front” business like Apple and Microsoft?

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This comes straight from Walmart PR:

Recently, Walmart Stores, Inc. made a business decision to not carry current Amazon products beyond our purchase commitments and existing inventory.
Our customers trust us to provide a broad assortment of products at everyday low prices, and we approach every merchandising decision through this lens.
We will continue to offer our customers a broad assortment of tablets, eReaders and accessories at a variety of great price points. This decision is consistent with our overall merchandising strategy.

So, what are we supposed to glean from this? Well, we could think that it has to do with sales figures and the Kindle isn’t performing on Walmart’s shelves as well as they would have liked. It might also have to do with money in that Amazon might not be offering Walmart the kind of margins that it would like to have either. Then again, there could be a much more compelling reason.

Amazon directly competes with Walmart in just about everything. You want a physical book? Amazon and Walmart both sell that. You want a video game? They both sell that too. You want furniture, groceries, textiles, shoes, luggage, watches, light fixtures or bicycles? Both Amazon and Walmart sell all of that. In a sense, by stocking the Kindle family, Walmart becomes a bit of an Amazon showroom. This could be the same reason why Target decided to pull the Kindle from its shelves too.

Of course, I could be reading far too much into this, but I think it is amazing how Amazon has its hands in everything. You buy the tablet from them, so you can buy the digital content from them. Even if you buy an iPad or some other device instead, you can buy that product from Amazon too and there’s a good chance that you might get the Kindle app to buy more content. They get paid at every step of the way.

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That’s the notion being put forth by Larry Downes of Forbes Magazine. Despite the slow bleed out from other electronic competitors, Best Buy actually saw its market share drop with a corresponding 40% drop in stock value last year. WSJ said that the “worst is yet to come” for Best Buy.

But why is that? One idea put forth has to do with customer service. You can generally categorize customers in one of two groups. There are the self-service types who know exactly what they want and don’t need any help. These are the folks that may rather turn to online shopping, or in the case of my local Vancouver area, a store like NCIX. Then, there are the folks who do want some customer service and guidance. The trouble is that Best Buy isn’t providing “customer service,” according to Downes. It’s “anti-service” because the associates are too busy upselling, suggestive selling, and cross-selling. That’s “in lieu of actual training on either the products or effective sales.”

And let’s not forget about the Apple Store. Best Buy has run out of that unique selling proposition, it seems, and it’s just going to be a slow and gradual death with customers leaking out to other channels. What do you think? Is Best Buy joining Circuit City to the pits? What can it do to attract customers again? Or will it be deemed “too big to fail” and get a government bailout?  What’s your experience at Best Buy?

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Apparently, the tipping point happened when Steve Jobs and the people at Apple decided to snub Costco when it came time to start selling the iPad. Costco wanted the popular tablet and Apple wouldn’t let them have it. That was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, but it certainly wasn’t the only problem.

As you know, Costco likes to sell things at pretty big discounts. Apple, on the other hand, has very strict control over how much retailers can sell their products for. This butting of heads just didn’t fare well for what either company wanted to accomplish. It also didn’t help that Apple didn’t allow Costco to sell Apple products online.

The long and the short of it is that “in the past couple months, we agreed to wind down.” Apple products are getting phased out of Costco. Soon, your only Apple option will be between Red Delicious and Granny Smith. In a fifty-pound sack.

[iPhone in Canada via Seattle Times]

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