Apple failed to look for someone who would manage its retail operations. Ten months already passed since John Browett was dismissed from the job. According to Wall Street Journal's Ian Sherr and Joann Lubin, the corporation's stores struggled due to the lack of leadership.

Apple's latest earnings data reported that the retail revenue of the company dropped by 22% to US$4 billion from the first quarter. Its sales were said to be still flat from 2012 even if the overall revenue of the company increased. The Journal said that the budget for supplies like pens and papers was decreased by around 30% in some retail stores. Workers were not immediately provided with items like T-shirt uniform with the logo of Apple.

Apple is currently one of the world's richest corporations with US$146.6 billion in its cash and marketable securities. However, it continued to reduce costs in the supplies of its retail stores. The Journal also mentioned that all the managers were told to reduce costs on events for the employees, trainings and conferences. Also, Apple slowed down in hiring tech-savvy staffs in many of its stores even if the company said in an ad campaign that it would focus on the said workers.