Some were temporarily closed due to coronavirus, they will ultimately not reopen for lack of an economic model: Microsoft announced Friday that it would close almost all of its stores worldwide. The reason ? Most of its sales are now made on the Internet. “Our sales have grown online as our product catalog has expanded with numerous digital offerings, and our great team has demonstrated its ability to serve our customers beyond physical locations,” said David Porter, vice- group president in charge of brands.
Microsoft remains unclear on the consequences for employees
More than 80 stores will be closed, the company said. However, the Microsoft Experience Centers, where visitors can test the brand's products, will remain open. Those from London, New York and Sydney will be "reimagined". The group has not yet wanted to specify how many employees will be affected by this decision.
Microsoft now plans to invest in tutorials, video calls and other support tools for its customers and online partners. The computer giant estimates that its sales websites, including Xbox and Windows, are visited by more than 1.2 billion people every month in 190 markets.
Delays in Surface production
The Redmond company also indicated that it would make a provision of $ 450 million to cover in particular asset write-downs. The impact of the pandemic has not yet been reflected in the financial results of Microsoft, which achieved a net profit of $ 10.8 billion from January to March, up 22% over one year, for a figure 35 billion in business (+ 15%).
Despite delays in production for its range of Surface computers, the group considers itself well positioned to weather the crisis, in particular thanks to the explosion of the cloud. The company has however just closed its video game streaming platform Mixer, leaving the field open to the giant of the industry Twitch (Amazon) and to its two rivals, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming.
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