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ThinkSecret :: Dell and Target dropping iPod
- Thread starter yzedf
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-%^$&@#!
Yeah, I read that.
We needed to keep those guys, especially Dell - what powerful free marketing for we Apple fans!
I hope we can get them back.
Yeah, I read that.
We needed to keep those guys, especially Dell - what powerful free marketing for we Apple fans!
I hope we can get them back.
Yeah....I'd noticed this a couple days ago (reports from dealmac on iPod closeouts at Target/no listings on Dell) There's also an article on Maccentral right now that confirms this....its a shame...why doesnt Apple learn? [RANT] Regardless of how many Macs are SOLD through these outlets, its about EXPOSURE and PERCEPTION. Mass-market stores=mass market product. Niche store=Niche product. I thought it was stupid when they pulled Macs from Best Buy and Circuit City too, though. Its at the point where if you want to buy an Apple product, you have to go looking specifically for one, and in today's world, where people walk in to places like Best Buy, etc, with a grand (or two) in hand and walk out with a computer, that isn't going to cause any kind of market growth. Apple doesn't want to be a niche forever, do they? [/RANT]
Having Dell and Target and Best Buy sell iPods (although the later two could have done a better job of displaying them.....) was one of the smartest things they've done on the past few years.
I really don't see how it could harm them in any way, aside from the bad stigma stemmed from a defective unit.
If this is true, then it will become one of the dumbest ideas they've done in the past few years.
I really don't see how it could harm them in any way, aside from the bad stigma stemmed from a defective unit.
If this is true, then it will become one of the dumbest ideas they've done in the past few years.
Ouch, I guess that confirms it then.
When will they learn!?
Typical Apple, one step forward and two steps back.
I am wondering if this was done due to Apple's inability to supply more than what they can personally sell? 5GB iPod's don't exist anymore (Holiday demand my ass). 10GB iPod's seem to be in rather short supply. It took way too long for the 12" and 17" powerbooks to start shipping, and even then it was mostly to the USA, to customers of Apple directly, not the resellers. The Radeon 9700 Pro was an option for how long, without a real shipdate? Meanwhile, the 9800 Pro is available for PC's before the 9700 Pro was for Mac's. iMac's weren't shipping at the needed rate until the demand fell. Apple can't decide if the low end powermac should be single or dual proc. OS X updates break things on new machines. iBook batteries, and iPod batteries, are hard pressed to last one year. 10 deae or stuck pixels before Apple will replace LCD screen. TiBook paint and airport reception issues continue to occur. Last iMovie update...
Apple's sales for the past few years or more or less stagnant, regardless of the behaviour of the current market (up, down, or even). Yet they are starting to act like a company that is on top with no cares in the world. But they aren't, are they?!
</rant>
M$ still sucks more...
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/04/14gripe_1.html
Apple's sales for the past few years or more or less stagnant, regardless of the behaviour of the current market (up, down, or even). Yet they are starting to act like a company that is on top with no cares in the world. But they aren't, are they?!
</rant>
M$ still sucks more...
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/04/14gripe_1.html
well apple had strict contracts and they didnt follow them. i always thought it was funny, do anyone of you get those preferred customer coupons at best buy. if you ever look on the back in small letters it says you cannont get a discount on bose products or ipods.
iJon
iJon
Survival of the fittest.
This is just one of the reasons that Apple struggles so much in the world of technology. The company just has no marketing sense. I was planning on buying an ipod for quite a while, but with the abscence of them in many stores and no explanation from Apple why they aren't there; I've lost interest. Apple should just announce when they will release things so we all don't have to play guessing games. So, Apple, if you're listening ( i know you aren't but oh well), you have lost a costomer due to your secrecy and bad marketing. Shame, i'll spend my $500 elsewhere.
This is just one of the reasons that Apple struggles so much in the world of technology. The company just has no marketing sense. I was planning on buying an ipod for quite a while, but with the abscence of them in many stores and no explanation from Apple why they aren't there; I've lost interest. Apple should just announce when they will release things so we all don't have to play guessing games. So, Apple, if you're listening ( i know you aren't but oh well), you have lost a costomer due to your secrecy and bad marketing. Shame, i'll spend my $500 elsewhere.
I'm trying so hard to shut out all this negative BS that Apple is stirring up, but it keeps making me question whether we will go the way of BeOS.
Click your heels three times and repeat after me: They have a good reason.... They know something I don't.... Bah - who am i kidding?
Dan
Click your heels three times and repeat after me: They have a good reason.... They know something I don't.... Bah - who am i kidding?
Dan
That's true of lots of companies' products. Look at a macy's coupon in the paper (or Dayton-Hudson/Marshall-Fields, etc.), they never apply to Levi's Dockers, Henckels knives, Calphalon cookware, etc. Those companies all have minimum prices that the stores can't sell below, so they get excluded.
That said, Apple's marketing is just a mess. They make great ads for TV and print (which is really an ad agency thing), but then constantly piss off their distributors. It amazes me that any of these places continue to do business with Apple. Places like Macwarehouse etc. could do plenty of business selling all the non-apple products -- printers, cables, software, etc. -- and ditch the computers. I've never understood why they don't.
It's so strange, because broad distribution of products is itself marketing. Maybe target wasn't featuring ipods prominently, but that's a separate issue. If Apple wants to be anything more than a niche player that barely survives, it has to drop the 'tude it cops with these folks.
Oh, BTW, so when they speak of "clearing out" these (ahem) old iPods, perhaps at a somewhat, you might say, (ahem) lowered price, where might one look to, so to speak, avail himself of the opportunity to, one might say, assist them in alleviating that burden?
i can't help but wonder if they are letting things get bad before they release their next big thing, but good god this seems utterly stupid. i've been waiting for a hardware announcement for almost 2 months now, and they just regress. humbug!
Why can't Apple just stop trying to control everything and just play nice like everone else out there? Just let the stores sell the things how they want to sell them. If they are not selling well it is only because at some stores $400 for an MP3 player is a joke.
cmone guys, have some faith. Apple is a big company. They are not stupid, they know what they are doing. I think they know what they are doing, I just can't figure out what it is. We shall see. BeOS is still alive. www.beosonline.com
Wow, sounds like iLife for $99 all over again. Unless someone has the orginal accepted contract and the new revised contract that these companies dropped selling the iPods because of, I'd hold my thoughts and opinions. It's only one side of the story and your conclusion is usually way off.
As far as selling the computers in Circuit City, etc., I think its great Apple pulled them. The "sales staff" at those places typically suck when you ask a question that isn't covered on the info card they read to people. Have you ever looked at a computer after its been on the floor for a while? They become their own worst advertisement.
I wonder if something in the iPod contract wouldn't allow Dell and Target to return unsold units. Those can be expensive puppies to get stuck with.
cheers!
John
I wonder if something in the iPod contract wouldn't allow Dell and Target to return unsold units. Those can be expensive puppies to get stuck with.
cheers!
John
The BeOS community may be kicking, but the BeOS is dead, buried and worm food. The future of that system is... well, no future at all.
Note: If you wonder how this relates to the iPod you are not reading the whole thread.
Dan
for whoever asked, all targets are selling ipod's at a dicount in their retail outlets and it tends to vary in price, some have noted $300 10gb
Kid Red, you can read the ammendment's to the contract on one of the sites that have been linked through this thread. i forget which one, maybe maccentral. i just woke up. sorry. it's not the full contract, but you can get the idea of why reseller's were declining to sign. and by the way, it's not just target and dell, it looks to be some 50 or resellers...
Kid Red, you can read the ammendment's to the contract on one of the sites that have been linked through this thread. i forget which one, maybe maccentral. i just woke up. sorry. it's not the full contract, but you can get the idea of why reseller's were declining to sign. and by the way, it's not just target and dell, it looks to be some 50 or resellers...
Does anyone think that maybe this signals the end to the iPod? Or at least the iPod as we know it... No updates for a long time, dwindling stock, and several distributors having the plug pulled....
>>They make great ads for TV and print<<
Apple's advertising is atrocious.
In this month's DV, they had a 2 page spread in a place where nobody would see it. The visuals were stale, generic '80s.
Inside, in a choice right page spot, was a pc ad disguised as an article. Readable and directed at the youth market.
The article was about a company that dumped their Macs for PC.
The identical Apple campaign - except theirs was done well and
to the point.
Apple's advertising is atrocious.
In this month's DV, they had a 2 page spread in a place where nobody would see it. The visuals were stale, generic '80s.
Inside, in a choice right page spot, was a pc ad disguised as an article. Readable and directed at the youth market.
The article was about a company that dumped their Macs for PC.
The identical Apple campaign - except theirs was done well and
to the point.