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iPad Pro Staples-12.9 128 GB iPad Pro $799 starts 4/17
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Or they are starting to clear the channel in anticipation of a new model coming out in a few months. Best Buy and Staples had similar discounts on the iPad Air2 in November. I figured that was because they wanted to get rid of inventory before a March-ish announcement of the iPad Air 3, which we all know turned out to be the iPad Pro 9.7. Four months from now would be August or September, just about the right time for a second generation IPP to be announced.
Actually, this seems a good strategy to me. Set a high price to start then 8 months or so later, let third party retailers sell at $100-150 discount--making people think they're getting a great deal.
Everybody wins. Original purchasers have had their IPP for months and, presumably, are loving it. New buyers think they're getting a steal. And Apple doesn't have to try to sell old inventory after the new version comes out. Win-win-win.
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In 8 months? See my post about timing sales to clear the retail channel starting about 4 months prior to a new model being announced.
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Somebody seems a little less than happy in this thread, (why so glum chum?
) Also, "few" means three or more, or "not many, but more than one." So November WAS in fact a few months ago. lol. Personally "few" has always meant 3-4 in my eyes, but the dictionary has me beat on this one. *Curses!K.
Somebody seems a little less than happy in this thread, (why so glum chum?
K.
It was actually a typo on my end, I meant to say "November is not in a few months"
7 months is not considered, by anyone's definition, a few months
That is certainly one valid interpretation. It might also reflect a shift in Apple's marketing strategy to be more conventional. Apple has had a history of not discounting the price on their products. And except for unique situations like Black Friday, their products traditionally never went on sale.
Everyone loves a sale. When the iPads go on sale, there is always an uptick in interest and/or sales. That is enough to nudge some fence-sitters to take the plunge. This could be part of that equation... which is not mutually exclusive from poor sales, or I could be giving Apple more credit on this than they deserve.
I think you could be right and this may be a partial explanation for the $100 price increase.
I doubt it. They want people buying them now (9.7PP) at MSRP and by the boatload
I know, I feel it shouldn't be more than 4 either, but according to Google it is: "not many, but more than one." I disagree with them, I was rasied that 3 or 4 is a "few"
lolKal.
Of course they do, and there will always be those customers. They could introduce a MBP or iPhone for $1K above market and a certain percentage of customers would bite. Obviously there is a threshold here. I'm just wondering if they aren't exploring that since significant discounts were once pretty rare.
Yes, but the announcement would likely be in Sept or early Oct at the latest. 4-5 months is a few months to me, especially given that the rumor mill will start cranking by mid July or early August, if previous years are any guide. At that point, people will start holding off until the know what the new model holds in store. Using the iPad Air 2 to IPP 9.7 as a guide: deep discounts start appearing in November, new model announced April (4-5 months later).
