Apple Launches Back to School Promotion in Japan with ¥10,000 App Store Gift Cards

[MacRumors]

Apple today launched its annual back to school promotion in Japan, offering students purchasing a new Mac a gift card worth ¥10,000 (US$129) and redeemable in the App Store, Mac App Store, or iTunes Store. The program runs through May 22.

The promotion is valid on all standard and build-to-order Mac models with the exception of the Mac mini. Refurbished Macs are also not eligible for the promotion.

Apple typically launches its back to school promotion in Japan around this time of the year, targeting the April 1 start date used by many schools in the country. Programs in the U.S. and other countries fall at later times in the year to match academic calendars in those countries.

Apple's back to school promotion used to offer a free iPod, usually up to the level of the low-end iPod touch, with equivalent discounts being offered for higher-capacity models with higher price tags. But Apple last year altered the program to offer a $100 App Store gift card in the United States and similar deals elsewhere. The move allows Apple to shift its giveaways to content that would support additional hardware sales rather than giving away the hardware itself.

Article Link: Apple Launches Back to School Promotion in Japan with ¥10,000 App Store Gift Cards

 

[Carlanga]

I wish they would bring back the free iPods...

 

[M-O]

I wish they would bring back the free iPods...

me too.

 

[mrgraff]

I wish they would bring back the free iPods...

I agree. If it wasn't for the free iPod that I got with my 2009 iMac, I probably never would have paid for a replacement last year, and I wouldn't be planning to get an iPhone real soon. I could never justify the cost of an iPod until I had one of my own.

Considering that most of my 100 or so apps arefree ones, I don't think getting an iTunes gift card would have been enough to make me consider buying the hardware.

 

[aristotle]

I wish they would bring back the free iPods...

What about people who already had one? Wouldn't you feel a bit cheated if you had just bought one earlier or received one as a gift?

Maybe a better option would be a coupon for anything in the store including hardware like an iPod.

 

[Carlanga]

What about people who already had one? Wouldn't you feel a bit cheated if you had just bought one earlier or received one as a gift?

Maybe a better option would be a coupon for anything in the store including hardware like an iPod.

nope, since it cost a lot more you could even sell it and make more than $100 in cash.
Of course a coupon would be the best but the iPod program was used to move older product from the shelf and promoting the mac line.

 

[daxomni]

What about people who already had one? Wouldn't you feel a bit cheated if you had just bought one earlier or received one as a gift?

I remember all those poor folks complaining about receiving a free iPod they didn't want and couldn't sell or find any use for. And because it didn't happen at the same time each year they couldn't plan for it. They felt so cheated. It was horrible. Oh, wait, never mind. It was absolutely nothing like that at all. Everyone was happy. Except for Apple I guess.

Maybe a better option would be a coupon for anything in the store including hardware like an iPod.

The only iPod that ¥10,000 can buy is the iPod Shuffle.

 

[Mr Fusion]

At current exchange rates, that equals out to just under $129.

God I'm so tired of being paid in dollars. This third world currency can't buy me anything overseas anymore...

 

[japanime]

What about people who already had one? Wouldn't you feel a bit cheated if you had just bought one earlier or received one as a gift?

Maybe a better option would be a coupon for anything in the store including hardware like an iPod.

I recently bought my daughter a MacBook Pro, as she preparing to enter high school (the Japanese school year begins in April). The 10,000 yen gift card would have been nice, but she's been enjoying her new computer so much that not getting the gift card isn't that big of a deal.