About Apple upcoming products...

[pat500000]

I was wondering...why all the secrecy until keynote? Why can't they spit it out with upcoming products and do demonstrations at the keynotes. i'm aware that it might be copying from another company, competition, sales related such as people waiting to buy. But really, why won't apple just tell us that certain products will be out this year..or whatever..giving general information. WOW factor should not be the reason. Ex: people wants to buy refresh nMP...but nobody knows....so if they could only tell us in general that it will be this year or early next year...etc.

 

[CelestialToys]

That's exactly what they do at their keynote presentations, they are product launches.

Just like every other company in the world they announce their new products when they're ready to be announced.

 

[pat500000]

That's exactly what they do at their keynote presentations, they are product launches.

Just like every other company in the world they announce their new products when they're ready to be announced.

Yeah, but...regardless of product launch...i'm sure they could provide some general information...such as, "coming soon." Point being..it would help us decide if we should buy current product or wait....rather than keeping us unknown. I'm personally waiting for nMP...but when? don't know...

 

[CelestialToys]

Yeah, but...regardless of product launch...i'm sure they could provide some general information...such as, "coming soon." Point being..it would help us decide if we should buy current product or wait....rather than keeping us unknown. I'm personally waiting for nMP...but when? don't know...

Well occasionally they do, we had plenty of notice before the arrival of the nMP. We get plenty of notice for new IOS and OSX, and it's pretty much a given that the new iPhone comes in September every year.

The reason why they don't announce "coming soon" is because they don't want us to know, or occasionally because they don't know themselves.

Imagine if they announced today that on the 1st of January they were going to release an updated nMP, no one in their right mind would buy one between now and then and they would lose sales.

Imagine if they announce a new product way in advance of it being ready to be shown and then there were major issues that meant that product wasn't viable. Imagine if that because they announced something prematurely that every other tech company got a jump on them and got a similar product to market sooner.

At the end of the day Apple are in business to make profit, lots of it, and that's why they only announce products when it's right for them and not the customer. As I said before, every business is exactly the same.

 

[Jessica Lares]

You want people to spend money right then and there when they have it, and not have them play a waiting game where there's time for them to go elsewhere.

 

[Tsuchiya]

In the case of the iPhone, it builds hype. We know it's coming. They know it's coming. But Apple refuse to acknowledge it until they air the keynote. They literally don't have to do anything regarding the iPhone but already there are customers eagerly awaiting its announcement. From a business perspective, Apple have it pretty damn good (despite what their current share price suggests ). Also announcing too far in advance will kill off current sales. I daresay Apple are still experiencing strong iPhone sales despite being a month away from announcement.

 

[pdjudd]

Pretty much all those. Announcing products in advanced is a risky thing to do unless the time frame is short and you are very definite about what you want to release and you can release it. Of course doing that can either build hype or destroy it.

For a company like Apple, they want to keep people guessing since their competition has abilities to rapidly adapt to what Apple is doing. If Apple reveals things early, with say the iPhone, Samsung is just going to release their next galaxy either before Apple can or close to them. Apple knows that companies try their darnedest to copy them and steal their thunder - they aren’t going to give competitors any more time than necessary.

There is also the Osborne effect - If you have tons of a product out at market and you have a huge marketshare, you have more flexibility, but you really don’t want to have your consumers trained to expect early announcements unless you have a short time to release. With the Osborne effect, you announce, and consumers are reluctant to buy your product now since it will be obsolete right away. They can only wait so long though - otherwise consumers get impatient and can go with your competitor (this is somewhat tempered by ecosystem lockdown but that’s not absolute protection) when they release something before you can...

That’s why when Apple re-announces things, it’s usually something that’s not subject to competition or it isn’t a direct profit generator (like OS X and iOS). For other things, it’s either a brand new product for them or it has a short timeframe between announcement and release for established products like the iPhone.

 

[maflynn]

Consider the Osborne Effect and what it did to one company (Osborne Computers). In 1983 after making a very popular luggable (pre-laptop days folks), Sam Osborne pre-announced the next generation that was to come out. The problem he ran into was that those computers weren't ready to ship. People stopped buying his original computer and delays on those newer models doomed the company and it folded in 1985

Apple is about secrecy and they're not about to pre-announce anything unless it has a very strategic purpose.

 

[pat500000]

Well occasionally they do, we had plenty of notice before the arrival of the nMP. We get plenty of notice for new IOS and OSX, and it's pretty much a given that the new iPhone comes in September every year.

The reason why they don't announce "coming soon" is because they don't want us to know, or occasionally because they don't know themselves.

Imagine if they announced today that on the 1st of January they were going to release an updated nMP, no one in their right mind would buy one between now and then and they would lose sales.

Imagine if they announce a new product way in advance of it being ready to be shown and then there were major issues that meant that product wasn't viable. Imagine if that because they announced something prematurely that every other tech company got a jump on them and got a similar product to market sooner.

At the end of the day Apple are in business to make profit, lots of it, and that's why they only announce products when it's right for them and not the customer. As I said before, every business is exactly the same.

fair enough...in business perspective.

You want people to spend money right then and there when they have it, and not have them play a waiting game where there's time for them to go elsewhere.

true..i can see that.

In the case of the iPhone, it builds hype. We know it's coming. They know it's coming. But Apple refuse to acknowledge it until they air the keynote. They literally don't have to do anything regarding the iPhone but already there are customers eagerly awaiting its announcement. From a business perspective, Apple have it pretty damn good (despite what their current share price suggests ). Also announcing too far in advance will kill off current sales. I daresay Apple are still experiencing strong iPhone sales despite being a month away from announcement.

lol..yeah iphone is very obvious....what about mac pro? lol.