This morning while going through all my news feeds I saw a few stories about Microsoft deciding to get into the retail business.  While I must say, hiring someone with the experience of David Porter is admirable, ultimately this is a very bad business decision.  You would think they would have learned from the failed retail experiences of companies like Dell and Gateway, but some people always think they can be different.

The only device I could see selling reasonably well would be the XBox.  Even then I seriously doubt XBox sales alone will be enough to support a full retail operation.  There’s always the Zune, but no one wants one.  Other than that they have computer peripherals and software.  You have to sell a ton of keyboards and mice to pay rent at any decent retail location.

The biggest problem with this retail strategy is that there are currently too many other options of places to buy Microsoft products.  One of the main things that made Apple stores so convenient was in the beginning it was the only place to buy an iPod other than the Apple web store.  By severly limiting the distribution chain, Apple was able to drive people into their stores.  While there are tons of places to buy Apple products now, the initial experience is what got people hooked and makes them keep coming back.

Speaking of the experience, that is another thing that no one has been able to replicate and I definitely don’t see Microsoft being able to pull off.  Apple fans are total fanatics about their products and in most cases I believe rightfully so.  The Apple experience is carried over into everything they do from using OS X to getting support at one of their Genius bars.

Microsoft has a long history of trying to duplicate Apple’s success and I’m afraid this will be yet another in a line of failed attempts.  Maybe someone in Redmond should look into coming up with some original ideas that actually make sense for their business model.