Microsoft is trying to open up more of its Microsoft Store retail locations and today, in an address at the company"s Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said in a speech that it will have 44 Microsoft Stores opened by mid-2013.
Microsoft launched its first retail store in 2009. Currently, it has 19 Microsoft Stores open, all in the US. Microsoft has officially announced plans to open at least nine more stores. That includes one in Toronto, Canada, which was officially confirmed today by Turner at WPC 2012. There are also rumors of plans to open a store in the UK. However, the current pace of store launches is still not keeping up with Microsoft"s previous announcement in July 2011 that it would open as many as 75 new stores in the next two to three years.
Turner tried to hype up its Microsoft Store plans today, with ZDNet.com quoting him as saying that they " ... will become more pervasive and go out into the world." He added that Microsoft plans to launch "holiday pop up stores throughout" the holiday 2012 season as it prepares for the launch of Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface tablet.
Source: ZDNet.com