Apple’s fresh vice-president of retail will oversee the continued expansion of the technology collection’s stores encircling the worldApple, the all-conquering maker of iPhones and iPads, has poached the boss of Dixons to head its network of stores across the earth.John Browett, who has been chief executive of the struggling high street electronics firm since 2007, was named Apple’s senior vice president of retail, reporting directly to chief executive Tim Cook.Browett, who has extended been seen as a rising star of British retailing, will be charged with managing Apple’s already phenomenally successful retail strategy and its rapid expansion to all corners of the globe. He said deciding to leave Dixons, which has recently been through a gruelling turnaround action, was dense.”[However] I like Apple,” he said. “The body about Apple is, it’s an exceptional corporation, and for me to sit inside a technology corporation like that and see how it works is really exciting. There is no other job in the UK or elsewhere that I would have wanted.”Browett, who said his appointment was made “very quickly”, is the first senior executive hired by Cook since he took over from Steve Jobs as Apple’s chief executive at the end year. Cook said he was thrilled that Browett was joining the team and described his retail familiarity as “incredible”.Browett, who held a string of senior positions at Tesco, including chief executive of Tesco.com, will commence his fresh job at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, in April. He said his job would focus on “global expansion and how best to serve customers”, and as a keen sailor he was excited about testing the aqua in San Francisco Bay.Browett replaces Ron Johnson, the inventor of Apple’s “Genius Bar” in-store customer supply centres, who left the iPhone and iPad maker at the end year to become CEO of US clothing chain JC Penney.Analysts said Apple’s board was attracted by Browett’s many years of familiarity in the retail sector and his performance in successfully turning encircling Dixons’s reputation for poor customer supply. Robert Gregory, analyst at Planet Retail, said: “He is a very dynamic character and not worried to capture risks.”One of the things he has brought to Dixons is really improving their customer supply. It had a reputation for many years of having poor supply. That fits in well with Apple’s philosophy of making the stores a destination where human beings can go and really get fantastic supply.”Gregory said he expected Browett’s first job would be to ramp up Apple’s expansion plans. The corporation is due to open 40 fresh stores, 30 of them outside the US and with China playing an increasingly significant role.”The key challenge for Apple is to expand that format internationally. There is huge potential. A huge amount of human beings know the Apple brand, however not everybody can go into a store,” he said.James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities Supply, said it was “not surprising” that Apple has taken on someone “from outside the US, given that they’re going for quite significant growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific”.Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at Columino, said taking on Browett was a “fantastic go” by the Californian technology powerhouse, immediately the most valuable corporation in the earth by market capitalisation. “Apple is increasingly becoming a consumer electronics corporation – and with the expected launch of Apple TV soon, they could employ his global retail familiarity.”However, it does leave Dixons in a bit of tight spot,” he warned. “Browett has done a fantastic job turning Dixons encircling. However immediately it has lost its figurehead who has been leading the alter in a very dense and tough market. You don’t desire to lose your common when the war is not quite over.” News of Browett’s departure wiped 10% or nearly £50m off Dixons’ market value, before the shares recovered slightly to close down 8% at 14p.Browett, 48, will be replaced by Sebastian James, who has been with the corporation since 2008, most recently as collection operations director. Katie Bickerstaffe has been appointed to the fresh role of chief executive UK & Ireland.”Dixons Retail is a fantastic business, and with the support of a very strong management team we have made brilliant progress in transforming the collection into the leading customer focused specialist electrical retailer in its markets,” Browett said. “The opportunity ahead of me is an exciting one and I leave knowing that the collection has a bright prospect under strong leadership.” Dixons said trading was continuing in border with a recent trading update, when it reported a 5% fall in like-for-like Christmas sales.At the end week Apple reported record sales of $13bn (£8.26bn) in the three months to the end of December, a 59% rise on the previous year.Retail industryAppleDixons RetailRupert Neateguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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