Dell Drops iPod

[slipper]

i think its silly for dell to not support the mp4 format. iTunes is selling like crazy, they are only limiting their product. i guess thats good for apple however i wish they would lower the prices of the ipod

 

[Trowaman]

look, it flows like this . . .

Dell wants to try and promote it's "DellPod" so it drops the competition. Apple however has this flowchart lined up for the iPod

1. Establish the iPod as cool and make people want it

2. Allow it to reach mass population (Windows).

3. Now bundle it with Mac software (iTunes) and let people have Mac hardware and software on their comps and make a decision to get a MAc.

4. Since eveyone has an iPod WMA dies out adn the AAC exclusive becomes a styandard due to how many people have iPods.

And that's the game plan. It's the waiting game now.

 

[Himosan]

That is so NOT the gameplan.

1. Apple cannot expect to (and does not expect to) dominate anything for the long term. They are a business and they are profit driven. If they wanted market saturation they could knock $100+ off the ipod tomorrow but I guarantee you they won't. If you look at the comments in SJ interview with RS he knows Dell will ultimately sell more units just as every PC company moves more desktops then apple. But apple will still be the most profitable. Apple -> profit not #'s.

2. ITMS is meant to sell ipods, not the other way around.

 

[winmacguy]

Originally posted by Himosan
That is so NOT the gameplan.

1. Apple cannot expect to (and does not expect to) dominate anything for the long term. They are a business and they are profit driven. If they wanted market saturation they could knock $100+ off the ipod tomorrow but I guarantee you they won't. If you look at the comments in SJ interview with RS he knows Dell will ultimately sell more units just as every PC company moves more desktops then apple. But apple will still be the most profitable. Apple -> profit not #'s.

2. ITMS is meant to sell ipods, not the other way around.

Exactly, I notice that the Australian December issuse of PC magazine has a copy of iTunes on their freeware demo CD that they attach to each monthly copy of their mag with the suggesting that PC owners load it on to their PCs to "try it out" and see what all the fuss is about and see how good it is compared to Windows Media Player. Of course if they do this they will have to get an iPod to put their songs onto
Just another way of getting an Apple product into the PC market internationally

 

[NJANJA]

Originally posted by slipper
the term price fixing is not setting a set price for an individual product from an individual company. rather, it would be a bunch of companies such as apple and dell and several other HD-music players joining together with the intent of jacking up the prices of the entire market in attempt to increase profits.

hmm doesnt this sound familiar? gas prices have been pretty high this year... 🙄 🙄 🙄 well just kidding but you get the idea right?

Just to clean up some of the terminology around here:

(1) resale price maintenance is the practice of a supplier of goods enforcing a minimum price for the resale of those goods (ie. a vertical price control);

(2) price-fixing is an arrangement between competitors in a market to set prices for the sale of those goods by the parties to that arrangment (ie. a horizontol price control).

Both of these practices are illegal is most countries that have restrcitive trade practices legislation, such as your Sherman Act, and our Trade Practices Act (in Aust.).

 

[danielgrenell]

probably because they put out that ****ty ipod contender... which is failing!

 

[Lanbrown]

Originally posted by DGFan
Not true. Purchase agreements can include such language.

edit:
Ok, I read up on the FTC Act.
If this activity is illegal then how do you explain game console prices? That's price fixing....

There have been times where you see consoles being sold at a discount. Most of the time you do not because people end up buying them anyway. In many case, the markups on the consoles are very slim anyway. The manufacturers lose money on every console sold so there is no markup on them for themselves and they place the MSRP close to what the distributors and retailers pay for them. This limits the amount of room the retailer can charge for the console, so they decide on MSRP and make a modest profit. The games and accessories is where the retailer makes the money on. The retailer could decide to make more money on a console and charge higher then MSRP, but then consumers would just go down the street and buy it.

Apple does not lose money on the iPod.

 

[Lanbrown]

Originally posted by slipper
the term price fixing is not setting a set price for an individual product from an individual company. rather, it would be a bunch of companies such as apple and dell and several other HD-music players joining together with the intent of jacking up the prices of the entire market in attempt to increase profits.

hmm doesnt this sound familiar? gas prices have been pretty high this year... 🙄 🙄 🙄 well just kidding but you get the idea right?

It can be just one company, read my long post above. It has case law in it.

Unfortunately, the fuel prices are different. If one corner drops or raises their prices, then another station does the same thing. They did not get together and decide on prices, they just mimicked one another.

 

[Travis Novak]

Originally posted by Lanbrown
A manufacturer cannot control the pricing of their product; they can only control what they sell it for. Once that has happened, they are out of it.

Apple has been hardnosed about uniformed prices. I belive a best buy contract was terminated because of that.