Comments on: The Apple notebook guessing game

Will the company make the price drop plunge on Tuesday when it rolls out its new notebook lineup?

[phess11]

Apples market share can only go up. They are at the bottom. They should keep the prices high. It adds to the novelty effect. They only reason people buy Apple products it to impress their friends. If someone buys a Mac everyone hears about it. So if they drop the price it will be less impressive. Apple should stick to the model that works for them, target people that have more money than brains. Let's be serious the only reason people started buy Macs again is because they made the leap that if Apple can make a decent MP3 player they probably make a good PC. Like I said, more money than brains.

[TogetherinParis]

Percentages mean nothing here. Apple's market share remains miniscule and competitors are selling many more computers than Apple does. Jobs has bided his time, staving off the true redemption. "High-end electronics" will become an oxymoron as trends continue into the future. If something isn't done soon to reposition the product line, eventually the company will close and face liquidation just like so many others before it.

[tomhuxley]

<blockquote>Apple's market share remains miniscule and competitors are selling many more computers than Apple does. </blockquote>

Since Apple is selling about 15-20% of all notebooks in the US (and 8-10% worldwide), its share can't be all that minuscule.

[Penguinisto]

Wow - the MSFT cheerleading squad gets out of bed awfully early in the morning, don't they?

It's real simple though - counting only notebooks, I doubt that 10% is "miniscule", considering that this makes Apple the 4th-largest player in the notebook market (behind only Acer, Dell, and HP). If trends continue, Apple will soon have 20% of the same market in 12-18 months, making it the same size as Dell and HP, and possibly larger. To further complicate things, Apple will be taking others' marketshare from the top, meaning that Dell, HP, and Acer will lose their higher-margin products.

@ phess11 & "TogetherinParis": Actually, Apple is making high margins and very healthy profits. They have as much free cash as Microsoft does right now - ab't $20bn each. No debt. I don't see how it's going to end up dead anytime soon.

Guess you'll just have to get used to the idea that Apple is going to be around, and be a major player. Hard for you fanboys to swallow, sure - but them's the facts. ;)

/P

[lkrupp]

"They (sic) only reason people buy Apple products it to impress their friends."

Well, that's certainly a new take by the Windows fanboy crowd.

"If something isn't done soon to reposition the product line, eventually the company will close and face liquidation just like so many others before it."

I see the economic Nobel laureates here are at it again predicting Apple's demise. How many times has the Apple death clock watch been hauled out now over the last thirty years. Yet Apple remains the oldest surviving personal computer manufacturer still producing product.

[newnewsreader]

A simple observation: even if Apple adds a notebook of $800 to its notebook product line, it will still be expensive for most consumers.
So, the update is simply needed to stay in the game.

If this notebook has all the features of a higher priced notebook, Apple will be able to persuade a lot more people to 'get a Mac', because the fact is that Mac OS X is commonly perceived as a better operating system and that MacBooks are well build and durable.

This could result in less margin per notebook in the short term, but later on - due to falling component prices and a lower cost per notebook because of higher product numbers - margins could be the same as before. The effect could even be more dramatic because it is also a known fact that new Mac buyers will spend considerable money on new Apple software like iWork, .mac etc.

So, the net result will be a bigger market share for Apple and possibly more margin per customer (software typically has a very high margin). This result is almost inevitable because of the (factual) high quality of Apples hard and software, and the ongoing word of mouth advertising as a result.

J.

[goodspeed8701]

i will buy a mac when it can do without windows(bootcamp) i cant spend money for a system that dont do a thing or os that is so weak. till apple can do without bootcamp then it will be worth buying.

[pfletcher]

The article, like so may is written by a Mac user, who as such has little experience or knowledge of the market besides what she reads in 'marketing reports'

The simple fact is you can buy a Windows laptop with a dual core cpu 100GB+ HD, DVDRW for $500 from many different vendors.

So if Apple decides they are going to take a dive into the sub $1K market then they need to be very careful as that market is, by its very nature price sensitive.

I would like to see Apple really think different as the old slogan went - give me a modular computer - say a 15" or 17" multitouch panel with a clipon BT keyboard and a cpu unit with a storage unit. Like this http://www.ergo-computing.com/ but more modular

[thomcarl]

Ogg? is that a real name?

[ckurowic]

Okay you know what, Windows fanboys? Use what you want to use. I'm really sick of you fools saying how much Apple sucks just because they are more expensive. Okay, so what, we know you like to buy cheap pieces of garbage and pass them off as computers. It is pretty ridiculous that you geeks get so into your super "cool" Dells, Acers, and HP's. They look like total pieces of trash, and function just about the same. No one looks at you and thinks "wow that guy is coooool! Look at that sa-weeet Dell!". No, sorry, it just doesn't happen. I know what you are going to say. "I don't care about what other people think". Sure you do. Everyone does (well come to think of it maybe you DON'T care if your like that fool in my class who sounds like he is using a sledge-hammer to type on this crappy Dell laptop, you know, the same guy that uses EXCEL to type notes into, what a moron). Don't try to pass that crap off. I'm not saying I purchase Apple products to look cool. However, I would like to try and not look like a tool when I get the BSOD right in the middle of a presentation on how great MSFT is (yes this actually happened in my investments strategies class....poor guy).

[goodspeed8701]

apple fanboys dont want to believe that os10 cant do anything more than what vista or xp can do. when mac users want to do something os x cant do they switch to windows using bootcamp. osx can run on any computer if you like youtube it. cnet also did a tutorial because of the DRM apple thinks the mac is different from a pc. pc is far more better. and windows is far more better than osx. i do anything i like with ma os. and pc. but ur os is limited so u use bootcamp to try to meet up with pc. mac is a pc. but the os is a crap that looks good but does nothing more than windows 2000

[jaypres]

Only morons think Windows is better than OS X. Smart people knew better.

[jaypres]

To further elaborate my point, we Mac users are already using 64-bit OS. Come next year, we will start using more and more 64-bit applications. Windows users, you are stuck forever with your 3.2 GB RAM 32-bit Vista. Why? Cos no one will write 64-bit applications for Windows nerds and the 90% market that you like to boast so often can't be bothered whether it's 32-bit or 64-bit.
Go get a life.

[Warhaven]

I'm not too keen on Apple switching their MacBook line to aluminum. The aluminum cases dent very easily, even a very light tap on a doorway as you round the corner will dent it. We use a lot of MacBooks at my work for the students and teachers, and the plastic case is ideal for just an environment. They're very rugged. If they switch to aluminum, they're going to look like dented junk after one year in the hands of middle school students.

[goodspeed8701]

warhaven osx is crap because of compactibility... hate it or love it windows is better than osx. the fact that apple started computer and they sell less computers shows how crapple they realy are. the world will buy something that do real job and rich **** will buy expensive junk and look at it and say wooooow is so coooool.

if the os x is better tell me what u can do with it that windows 2000 cannot do.

[Zoobie]

I love the grammar on this post. It seems that, like most tech support, the comments today have been outsourced overseas to countries that lack shift keys:

"They only reason people buy Apple products it to impress their friends. "

"their worldwide sale dont near 4% so make good research before you speak."

"i will buy a mac when it can do without windows(bootcamp) i cant spend money for a system that dont do a thing or os that is so weak. till apple can do without bootcamp then it will be worth buying. "

"i do anything i like with ma os. and pc. but ur os is limited so u use bootcamp to try to meet up with pc. mac is a pc. but the os is a crap that looks good but does nothing more than windows 2000"

I could go on copying more of these horrendous posts...

[Vegaman_Dan]

Apple computers are largely niche products. Some day they may grow to compete with PC's in the home and business, but right now, it is a niche. That's not a bad thing. That protects them from many realities such as the economy. With the downturn in the economy, people simply don't have the same levels of expendable income that they did. When they are looking for a notebook to do basic work with, will they spend $500 on a PC or $1000-2000 on an Apple to do exactly the same thing? A year ago if you wanted to have that status symbol of the Apple, then that was fine. Now when you have to choose which you want and still be able to feed your family- well, decisions have to be made.

I don't think in the end it makes a bit of difference to Apple. Fans will buy whatever they put out at whatever price. If Apple wants to go after the real market, they will have to adjust to the reality of the situation or stay in their niche.

It's up to Apple.

[keithasmithjr]

I am not at all certain that moving prices down in the Mac laptop lineup is a great idea. It depends a lot on what one will get for a lower price.

Right now, there is a brisk market for high end G4 Mac laptops that lands right in the range proposed for a low end Intel model. For that price, however, you get lots of ports and high end optical drives as well as a large screen in a used laptop. I've found few bad ones, too, which makes that market very attractive to students and folks who just want a laptop for travel and/or convenience in websurfing and e-mail.

I'd be interested in seeing what a low range MacBook might do to that used market.

[saylorew]

Oh, WOW!! I JUST BOUGHT MY MACBOOK @ MONTHS AGO AND NOW THEY MIGHT LOWER THE PRICE TO $800.00 AND I BOUGHT IT FOR 1,199, ****

[RompStar_420]

The Mac Pro G5 Power Mac that I bought 3 years ago for $2000 is still the best computer in the house. It outruns and outshines everything, I get lots of work done on it, it is not just a toy and something that I brag to my friends about.

I think the MacBooks are too expensive anyways, but I like apple anyhow.