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Apple's Upcoming Product Transition
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Margins and marketshare
Good points here.
I'm leaning towards some very very aggressive pricing, probably on the iMacs, to really drive on the market share growth.
As many have said, better and more costly components would drive margins down, as would taking an aggressive price point. With iPods and (hopefully) iPhones getting more folk used to the Apple way of doing things, iTunes and Safari ported to Windows ditto, the biggest barrier to getting more people on board is price.
The Mini having reportedly had its day strengthens the argument for me. Rather than encouraging potential switchers to give it a go with a cheapish low end box only, maybe it's to turn the screw and drop iMac prices and margins to almost Dell-like levels to drive market share. And a substantive redesign is also a perfect time to rework the pricing matrix.
Could be fun...
Good points here.
I'm leaning towards some very very aggressive pricing, probably on the iMacs, to really drive on the market share growth.
As many have said, better and more costly components would drive margins down, as would taking an aggressive price point. With iPods and (hopefully) iPhones getting more folk used to the Apple way of doing things, iTunes and Safari ported to Windows ditto, the biggest barrier to getting more people on board is price.
The Mini having reportedly had its day strengthens the argument for me. Rather than encouraging potential switchers to give it a go with a cheapish low end box only, maybe it's to turn the screw and drop iMac prices and margins to almost Dell-like levels to drive market share. And a substantive redesign is also a perfect time to rework the pricing matrix.
Could be fun...
not only that but the core 2 duo's/ intel xeons do not suffer from the same shortages as the G5's.
At first i thought that new imacs were simply gonna be MPB specs with a bigger HDD, but am starting to think apple may have a surprise or two up their sleeves.
10.5 delay = delayed HW purchases...
Well, for starters, Apple delayed 10.5, so many are putting off HW purchases for that release...
Well, for starters, Apple delayed 10.5, so many are putting off HW purchases for that release...
Like maybe as described in this patent application?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/325610/
I'm really hoping to see some multi-touch elsewhere soon, perhaps in the ultra-slim MBP 13" -- BUT - I think all of that won't ship until Leopard is available...
Also, if they are recording all of the iPhone costs as they incur them, and the revenue over 24 months... the more they sell the lower their margins. To the point it initially appears as a loss? No? I would have to go back and listen to that tedious conference call again, but I thought they were reporting iPhone REVENUE over 24-months - but they still have to pay to make them...
Here in Texas the savings in sales tax would be offset by the cost of the Leopard up-grade. Do the math for your sales tax rate and you might find that you can wait for the new machines and Leopard.
What if ...
the drop in margins --related to the iMac and later found in the MacPro-- is a Blu-Ray DVD writer!?!? They are expensive and would reduce Apple's margins on its hardware in the short-term. It also serves as a product transition --to High Definition. This could also be the beginning of other Hi-Def hardware leading up to and in to Leopard.
the drop in margins --related to the iMac and later found in the MacPro-- is a Blu-Ray DVD writer!?!? They are expensive and would reduce Apple's margins on its hardware in the short-term. It also serves as a product transition --to High Definition. This could also be the beginning of other Hi-Def hardware leading up to and in to Leopard.
apple supports both blue-ray and hd DVD. I would imagine some sort of choice or combo player first.
Maybe... but hasn't Quicktime Pro been kind of a pain in the butt as all those updates can't be had without new purchases? Bundling may or may not make sense, but Apple doesn't seem to keen on helping people out too much.
On second thought, if iLife and Leopard are very integrated, Apple may be facing the decision of selling them as separate but integrated products that make the most sense together, or selling an expensive bundle and potentially hurting sales, or do a crowd pleaser by bundling it for cheap and advertising it as more than ever (which will be true, of course)....
Congratulations. Hope your minister is better in time for the ceremony.
I'm thinking multi-touch mouse myself, possibly also integrated into the trackpads of the laptops. As far as lowering MBP sales, I feel those who value portablility over power would get a laptop. Those who value power over portability would get a desktop. I'm in that second camp.
I'm thinking a hybrid that uses some flash as an intermediate cache to the HDD. Flash is faster than a hard disk, but smaller capacity, right? If so, new files can be written to the flash and accessed from it, and the hard disk itself can write at its own speed. Frequently read hard disk files can also be written to the flash for quicker access.
Kind of like a mix between virtual memory and a RAM disk.
I completely agree with this. But the downfall of this is HD content. That's where comcast has a leg up on everyone! With comcast you can get HD content On Demand.TV has the power to display HD, but I'm not about to spend all day downloading an HD movie/ show. It's asking for a miracle, but I'd love to be able to do it. Until then I have no use for
Yes, I fully believe new computers will have Blu-ray drives.
G5 powerbooks never came because G5 processors ran/run way too hot. They were always desktop processors; one reason Apple went Intel.
With a record number of Mac sales? Either they don't know, don't care, or are tired of putting a computer purchase off for Leopard.
I think everyone is reading too much into this. "upcoming product transition" is just a blanket statement to support the fact that between people waiting to buy a mac for leopard now that October is a sure thing, significant updates to the imac and mac pro, there will be both less sales and lower margins.
Um, like, you know, duh. Check my join date. I actualy have lived through Apple's history. G5 PowerBook part of my post was a joke. There are probably more posts on this forum regarding G5 PBs than anything else combined.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I am waiting for Leopard before buying a new Mac. This will be Mac # 15 for me. I have kept every one of them. Same thing for my 7 Compaqs, the last being a 2.41 ghz Athlon 64.
Ok
What about this product transition? While we're throwing stoopid ideas out there...
1) Modify Mac Mini to media server or Apple TV line. Two Apple TVs in one line. Perhaps because Mini not selling well to edu markets...
2) Release new iMac, new case, new everything. Leopard, wonderful.
3) Release new eMac... for education line. In the current iMac form. No cost of retooling at all. Maybe change some of the ports.
I am a genius.
What about this product transition? While we're throwing stoopid ideas out there...
1) Modify Mac Mini to media server or Apple TV line. Two Apple TVs in one line. Perhaps because Mini not selling well to edu markets...
2) Release new iMac, new case, new everything. Leopard, wonderful.
3) Release new eMac... for education line. In the current iMac form. No cost of retooling at all. Maybe change some of the ports.
I am a genius.
Who ever said the Mac mini isn't selling well other than for not being updated in over a year?