Microsoft Hires David Porter, Plans On Opening Stores To Promote Windows

Microsoft Corporation plans to opening several retail stores shortly after hiring David Porter as the company’s corporate VP of retail stores.  Porter has worked at Wal-Mart for 27 years.  Porter was also the head of worldwide product distribution at DreamWorks Animation SKG since around 2007.

Porter will be starting work this Tuesday and his responsibility will be to improve the PC buying experience for consumers.  His first task is to plan the timing, locations, and design of Microsoft stores, a strength that Apple already has.

The Microsoft stores are a way of improving the software company’s brand since Vista was criticized for being slow, too secure, and requiring much larger hardware specifications.  Apple capitalized on these weaknesses by releasing several PC vs. Mac ads.  Apple has also admitted that their stores helped raise their own brand awareness.  Microsoft hopes to achieve the same thing.

“I am delighted to welcome David to Microsoft,” stated Microsoft COO Kevin Turner. “This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live and Windows Mobile. We’re also working hard to transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience at retail by improving the articulation and demonstration of the Microsoft innovation and value proposition so that it’s clear, simple and straightforward for consumers everywhere. David’s unique and diverse background, coupled with his deep retail roots and distribution understanding, will be an invaluable asset in this long-term effort.”

Porter will be working with Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, a unit within Microsoft that already has retail experience.  Porter will be reporting directly to Kevin Turner.