You are assuming an LCD there; the minitowers are not all-in-one sytems; you can choose the display that better suits your needs and budget, i.e. +/-$180 good CRT for the same resolution as the iMac's LCD.
Apple learned its lesson with the Cube pricing fiasco. There needs to be a well defined difference between the iMac and the entry level PowerMac.
I guess you agree the new low end PM won't have a less than 800mhz rating, right? I also hope you agree Apple needs to offer a cheap tower, or at least maintain the $1699 entry level price. If both iMac and entry PM come with (at least) the same speed, graphics, ram, hd (last 2 non trivial) and SuperDrive, how do you avoid making the tower a heck of a better deal than the iMac? Coolness factor is not worth much to some pockets.
I am not saying that you are wrong, but rather that I am interested in your ideas. As I said before, I don't take things on these boards personal.</strong><hr></blockquote>
1.) the imac does not have a CRT. it has a LCD. you are making a comparison between the imac and Powermac based on price. you can;t just take away the fact that the imac has a LCD and say a CRT is equal
2.) what if there were overlap? who cares? how are you going to justify a consumer machine with built-in LCD selling for 100 dollars more and it comes with a superdrive and then have a professional mac without it?
3.) margins are bigger on powermacs. apple would want people to go powermac
1.) the imac does not have a CRT. it has a LCD. you are making a comparison between the imac and Powermac based on price. you can;t just take away the fact that the imac has a LCD and say a CRT is equal
2.) what if there were overlap? who cares? how are you going to justify a consumer machine with built-in LCD selling for 100 dollars more and it comes with a superdrive and then have a professional mac without it?
3.) margins are bigger on powermacs. apple would want people to go powermac
4.) the iMac will drop in price eventually</strong><hr></blockquote>
1) For the sake of your argument...
Let's review this point, assuming the new low end $1699 PM will be at least 800mhz since it can't keep being 733 or slower than iMac:
PM 800mhz , 133bus, 4 pci, more HD expansion, more RAM expansion, extra removeable storage bay (zip included?), gigabit ethernet, SuperDrive, 256ram, 40hd, modem, $350 15"LCD (i.e. viewsonic) = $2049
That's just $250 over the $1799 iMac, yet lots and lots of goodies (read above before SuperDrive). A negligible premium given the specs.
If you keep the low end standard without the SuperDrive (CDRW) at the same $1699 price, it would take at least $650 to achieve the same apparent goal. That's would keep the iMac safe from overlap.
2) Apple cares about overlap. As in any business, you have to correctly price target your offerings or you risk loosing everything you invested on a particular model, R&D, factory contracts (penalties), etc... It shouldn't happen again.
As to how is someone going to justify the iMac $100 price premium with superdrive and lcd screen over a pro PowerMac without SD, well I just answered that above in 1). The better specs of a tower without LCD/SuperDrive are more than a justification for the similar price point. Think of the SuperDrive as the catch. If you need it on the PM, you should be able to pay more and get it BTO, since you are already getting much better specs otherwise.
3) margins are indeed better on PM so, why cut margins by including the SD as standard? Makes no sense.
4) The iMac will drop in price... by the time they do, the (then) current PM will also go down as new products are introduced.
Comments
<strong>
You are assuming an LCD there; the minitowers are not all-in-one sytems; you can choose the display that better suits your needs and budget, i.e. +/-$180 good CRT for the same resolution as the iMac's LCD.
Apple learned its lesson with the Cube pricing fiasco. There needs to be a well defined difference between the iMac and the entry level PowerMac.
I guess you agree the new low end PM won't have a less than 800mhz rating, right? I also hope you agree Apple needs to offer a cheap tower, or at least maintain the $1699 entry level price. If both iMac and entry PM come with (at least) the same speed, graphics, ram, hd (last 2 non trivial) and SuperDrive, how do you avoid making the tower a heck of a better deal than the iMac? Coolness factor is not worth much to some pockets.
I am not saying that you are wrong, but rather that I am interested in your ideas. As I said before, I don't take things on these boards personal.</strong><hr></blockquote>
1.) the imac does not have a CRT. it has a LCD. you are making a comparison between the imac and Powermac based on price. you can;t just take away the fact that the imac has a LCD and say a CRT is equal
2.) what if there were overlap? who cares? how are you going to justify a consumer machine with built-in LCD selling for 100 dollars more and it comes with a superdrive and then have a professional mac without it?
3.) margins are bigger on powermacs. apple would want people to go powermac
4.) the iMac will drop in price eventually
<strong>
1.) the imac does not have a CRT. it has a LCD. you are making a comparison between the imac and Powermac based on price. you can;t just take away the fact that the imac has a LCD and say a CRT is equal
2.) what if there were overlap? who cares? how are you going to justify a consumer machine with built-in LCD selling for 100 dollars more and it comes with a superdrive and then have a professional mac without it?
3.) margins are bigger on powermacs. apple would want people to go powermac
4.) the iMac will drop in price eventually</strong><hr></blockquote>
1) For the sake of your argument...
Let's review this point, assuming the new low end $1699 PM will be at least 800mhz since it can't keep being 733 or slower than iMac:
PM 800mhz , 133bus, 4 pci, more HD expansion, more RAM expansion, extra removeable storage bay (zip included?), gigabit ethernet, SuperDrive, 256ram, 40hd, modem, $350 15"LCD (i.e. viewsonic) = $2049
That's just $250 over the $1799 iMac, yet lots and lots of goodies (read above before SuperDrive). A negligible premium given the specs.
If you keep the low end standard without the SuperDrive (CDRW) at the same $1699 price, it would take at least $650 to achieve the same apparent goal. That's would keep the iMac safe from overlap.
2) Apple cares about overlap. As in any business, you have to correctly price target your offerings or you risk loosing everything you invested on a particular model, R&D, factory contracts (penalties), etc... It shouldn't happen again.
As to how is someone going to justify the iMac $100 price premium with superdrive and lcd screen over a pro PowerMac without SD, well I just answered that above in 1). The better specs of a tower without LCD/SuperDrive are more than a justification for the similar price point. Think of the SuperDrive as the catch. If you need it on the PM, you should be able to pay more and get it BTO, since you are already getting much better specs otherwise.
3) margins are indeed better on PM so, why cut margins by including the SD as standard? Makes no sense.
4) The iMac will drop in price... by the time they do, the (then) current PM will also go down as new products are introduced.
<EDIT: revised specs and SuperDrive price>
[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: Bill M ]</p>