Mac pricing

[houttbe]

Now that the dust is settling on the Intel transition, it's becoming clear that the biggest challenge will not be for developers to move their apps, but for Apple to maintain their market share over the next two years.

Apple are watching sales statistics carefully - that's one of the reasons why they have invested in a retail operation.

I am sure they will soon notice decreasing sales, if they're not seeing it yet, as Apple customers are putting off buying new hardware whose obsolescence is already announced.

There are no new product announcements that could generate extra sales. iPods are running out of steam. Possibly we'll see a minor iBook speed bump but that's probably all in the short term. No doubt they'll try to reverse the tide with some commercial actions - offering software deals and so, but I expect that will not have real impact.

The current quarter is still reasonably safe as the announcement was made towards the end of the quarter and Tiger is doing well. But they can't afford crashing sales in the next quarter or their share price will tank.

My guess is we'll see major price cuts all over the Mac range within the next month or so. The only way to get sales volume in the present circumstances is for customers to feel that they can depreciate new equipment over 18 months rather than three years or so.

 

[yuy]

Now that the dust is settling on the Intel transition, it's becoming clear that the biggest challenge will not be for developers to move their apps, but for Apple to maintain their market share over the next two years.

Apple are watching sales statistics carefully - that's one of the reasons why they have invested in a retail operation.

I am sure they will soon notice decreasing sales, if they're not seeing it yet, as Apple customers are putting off buying new hardware whose obsolescence is already announced.

There are no new product announcements that could generate extra sales. iPods are running out of steam. Possibly we'll see a minor iBook speed bump but that's probably all in the short term. No doubt they'll try to reverse the tide with some commercial actions - offering software deals and so, but I expect that will not have real impact.

The current quarter is still reasonably safe as the announcement was made towards the end of the quarter and Tiger is doing well. But they can't afford crashing sales in the next quarter or their share price will tank.

My guess is we'll see major price cuts all over the Mac range within the next month or so. The only way to get sales volume in the present circumstances is for customers to feel that they can depreciate new equipment over 18 months rather than three years or so.

I do not think they will cut price from economics view

 

[houttbe]

Care to elaborate?

 

[houttbe]

This is from The Clearance Store France www.tcsmacs.net:

Est-ce que l' action Apple va continuer de monter ?

Je ne suis pas analyste financier, mais je connais bien la firme de Cupertino. Une chose est sûre, les ventes de macs vont baisser, ce qui aura pour but de réduire le CA d' Apple pour les prochains trimestres. Tout va donc dépendre du phénomène iPod. Si celui-ci continue sur sa lancée, le CA baissera certes, mais les marges seront meilleures entraînant un meilleur bénéfice d'exploitation. Apple va continuer à se concentrer sur ce marché, pour maintenir son aura. Avec le podcasting inclus dans iTunes, les modèles dits à abonnements Yahoo, Napster, and co ne feront pas de supers résultats et l'ITMS va donc continuer à s'épanouir. Cependant, un petit bémol si Apple ne renouvelle pas sa gamme cet été ou au salon Apple Expo Paris 2005, les ventes déclineront et ce sera dangereux pour le cours de l'action à ce moment là. M'est avis que l'iPod va continuer sur sa lancée et que les nouveaux modèles arriveront très prochainement, ce qui devrait permettre à l 'action de ne pas trop chuter. Par contre, je ne la vois vraiment pas monter comme cette année et je conseillerais même d' être raisonnable et vigilant pour les investissements à court terme. Par contre, si vous êtes un long runner, investir dans Apple aujourd'hui sera très bénéfique pour les prochaines années. La décision d'Apple de se tourner vers Intel offre une véritable chance à la firme de Cupertino et ses actions von,t aux termes de ces deux prochaines années, exploser.

Est-ce que les ventes de Macs vont baisser ?

Oui, cela est inéluctable

 

[sw1tcher]

Rough Translation

Will the APPLE action continue to go up? I am not a financial analyst, but I know the firm of Cupertino well. A thing is sure, the sales of macs will drop, the purpose of which will be to reduce CA of APPLE for the next quarters. All thus will depend on the phenomenon iPod. If this one continues on its impetus, CA will certainly drop, but the margins will be better involving a better operating profit. APPLE will continue to concentrate on this market, to maintain its will have. With the podcasting included in iTunes, the models called to subscriptions Yahoo, Napster, and Co will not make a supers results and the ITMS thus will continue to open out. However, a small flat if APPLE does not renew its range this summer or with the show APPLE Expo Paris 2005, the sales will decline and they will be dangerous at this time for the course of the action there. Is to me opinion that the iPod will continue on its impetus and that the new models will arrive very soon, which should allow L ' action not not to too much fall. On the other hand, I really do not see it going up like this year and I would even advise to be reasonable and vigilant for the short-term investments. On the other hand, if you are a length runner, to invest in APPLE today will be very beneficial for the next years. The decision of APPLE to turn to INTEL offers a true chance to the firm of Cupertino and its actions von, T under the terms of these two next years, to explode. Will the sales of Macs drop? Yes, that is inescapable

 

[macorama]

iPods are running out of steam.

Well, when you start approaching 100% market share, there's not much room left to grow is there! But if you think about how much cash Apple must have saved up due to iPod sales - that's their fund to get them through the next two years.

While most of the people reading this forum know about the adoption of Intel, most consumers aren't going to know, or probably even care. I'm sure the rest of us are planning on buying an Intel based Mac as soon as they're availbile in the product line we prefer. So with a bit of cash to smooth things out Apple won't have any problems.

 

[wwooden]

It's not like they are going to stop supporting the PPC, they are making a universal Binary system so both processors can run the programs. I bet it is going to be like this for at least the next 5+ years. It's a great idea and people who buy a new computer before the move to Intel are not going to be screwed over and not have a usable computer for the next several years. All programs will be written for both systems and I bet most people won't notice.