Although its not confirmed, the rumor sites were talking about initial manufacturing orders of 20,000 units. If that is the case then 100,000 preorders is well above the level that Apple were expecting.
Yes but realize that many of us expected the entry level G5 to be 1599-1699 starting. Had Apple hit this pricepoint they would have higher sales potentially.
1.6 G5 academic with Combo drive is only $1619. All you need to do is take a class at the local jr. college. Add in ATI 9600 and Bluetooth it's $1709.
Price is an issue for me purchasing the new towers.
I would have ordered two mid-ranges at the original price points immediately for my company's graphics dept.
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I have to Dec. 31 to purchase new hardware for the company for tax reasons. I'm replacing PC's here that are only 2 years old and that were significantly less expensive. We will also incur software cross grade costs as well if we switch from XP to X.
Benchmarks will let me now if we can stretch the budget for the entry G5's. At this point the high end dual is the only model that looks like it's going to hold it's own and even kick some butt (both price and power performance wise). The dual 2Ghz. models are way outside our current budget however.
I was expecting dual 1.4's @ around $1600. If the current entry and mid were duals I wouldn't be worried about busting the bank a bit.
At this point it looks like the Dells will remain. These systems need to be upgraded to something much faster and affordable.......
No-one's mentioned this: the zillions of posts all around the net saying "No way I'm buying RevA hardware, man! Let the early-adopters catch the shit, I'm sittin' out 'til the smoke clears...."
It's new *everything* time - and the pessimists (and optimists without a margin for error) don't want to be first into the trenches this time, and fine for them. I bought an MDD Dual less than a year ago, so I'll probably be one of 'em. So, 100,000 pre-orders as of ship-day is neither good nor bad; thing is, there's at least a million G5's worth of sales riding on what happens now. If the box holds up under the punishing scrutiny of steely-eyed Wintellians, it will be the pro-level equivalent of the iMac. If Panther cleans up nice & shows up soon & performs well, Macs could approach resepctable.
There IS pent-up demand - people desperately want a real, live, healthy, functional alternative to Windows, and many of them don't want Linux to be that alternative. The so-called Mac faithful are skittish about whether or not Apple can really pull it off this time, but the rest of the computer industry seems more prepared to accept success from Appple than at any time since the Apple ][ ruled the skies.
If the G5 can just not screw the pooch;
If Panther can just not make a giant sucking sound;
If Steve can just not step on his dick...
Then everything oughta work out just fine, and I can buy myself a dual 5GHz G6 in a couple o' years - w/ the proceeds from my Apple stock.
Until then I sit, and breathe, and practice the perfect realisation of patience *inhale* and one-ness *exhale* G5 - I mean, Panther....
No-one's mentioned this: the zillions of posts all around the net saying "No way I'm buying RevA hardware, man! Let the early-adopters catch the shit, I'm sittin' out 'til the smoke clears...."
It's new *everything* time - and the pessimists (and optimists without a margin for error) don't want to be first into the trenches this time, and fine for them. I bought an MDD Dual less than a year ago, so I'll probably be one of 'em. So, 100,000 pre-orders as of ship-day is neither good nor bad; thing is, there's at least a million G5's worth of sales riding on what happens now. If the box holds up under the punishing scrutiny of steely-eyed Wintellians, it will be the pro-level equivalent of the iMac. If Panther cleans up nice & shows up soon & performs well, Macs could approach resepctable.
There IS pent-up demand - people desperately want a real, live, healthy, functional alternative to Windows, and many of them don't want Linux to be that alternative. The so-called Mac faithful are skittish about whether or not Apple can really pull it off this time, but the rest of the computer industry seems more prepared to accept success from Appple than at any time since the Apple ][ ruled the skies.
IT departments are probably going to wait till the second revision of G5s come out before buying large quantities.
The Adobe Photoshop plugin for the G5 is beta right? The G5 will really fly when new versions of Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator are released to use 64 bit. Until then you might as well wait for Apple to work out the kinks. Even if it just means waiting till the first batch of G5s ships.
Plus all the mess with the 3 volt verse 5 volt PCI card will keep a lot of Pros waiting. There is little use in buying a G5 if your ProTools cards don't work.
I'm waiting on ordering a dualie until September, mostly to see if any last minute hardware/software problems arise that I'll let early adopters deal with. Second, I'm hoping for an early showing of Panther so I don't have to shell out another $129 for it just after buying a new computer.
I think 100K pre-orders is good, but what really matters is if this pace keeps up or whether its a initial spike. I bet that in the next couple of weeks we are going to see a rush of reviews and if the news supports what we saw at WWDC, then I think they will have a lasting winner on their hands.
I've also read that the marked down G4's are (were?) selling well, so overall desktop CPU sales may be up for the quarter. Its easy to overllok these dated units whn discussing on future hardware, but remember that eMacs and such do sell well. The price on the dual G4 is really quite low compared to what they were not too long ago. This may be attracting more buyers. I'm optimistic we'll see a bumb up in Apple's share of the market. Headlines: "G5 boosts Apples share of the market" etc. This may be a turning point.
I don't think you can compare the number of G4 pre-orders to the number of g5 pre-orders mainly because many, many people who ordered the high end G4 got shafted when the speed dump rolled around. I'd be more than a little weary of a completely new machine from Apple. Personally I'm busy saving my money for a 1.8 Ghz with a nice display or a Dual 2 ghz with a shit display. Decisions Decisions. Oh, plus I'm waiting to see if an updated 12 inch PB might be up my alley due to College being a year away.
remember that for apple the only important thing is that they can ship more units out of their PowerMac-Line. The currently less expensive G4's belong to the PowerMac-Lineup as well. if you place the 100,000 pre-orders of G5s against the 133,000 units of PowerMacs that shipped over the whole last quarter than this looks pretty impressive. i'd say apple will sell around 200,000 units this quarter if they can deliver... personally i think the G5 is a very good step for apple into the future.
Just for reference, Apple boasted 150K of pre-orders when the G4 shipped.
So in that respect, yeah, it must be a little disappointing. The sluggish economy (plus maybe the increased interest in laptops) has taken its toll.
On the plus side, 100K pre-orders sure isn't anything to be ashamed of. And it's clear the most popular model is the Dual 2Ghz, at Apple's highest price point. That's got to be good news.
edit. took a while to post, Ensign, and missed yours -- but at least that '99 150K figure is now CONFIRMED.
I didn't preorder ... but next time i'm in Honolulu (september), I will bring a wad of cash and walk out of the AppleStore with a 1.8 (assuming they have one in stock !!!)
Out of the three models, the 2GHz PowerMac was the only regular on the Apple Store's top ten list. In fact, it might have been the only one to appear on the top ten list.
It's not too much of a stretch to conclude from that evidence that the top end PowerMac is the best selling model.
Was anyone else surprised at how few preorders Apple got for the G5? ... Does anyone else find the 100,000 number disappointing?
"Pioneers get the arrows."
Pre-order people have paid a premium to be the first on their block with a new toy. Pre-order people have spent a lot of dough to become Rev A G5 beta testers. Pre-order people have spent the past few months spooking the FedEx guy with their intense staring.
Selling a 100,000 machines at $2,000-$3,000 a pop solely on the strength of marketing (it's still vaporware if it's not on the shelf) is very impressive.
At 2000-3000 for a machine short of "extras" like software and a bundled display, the PMG5 is clearly more of a workstation than a "desktop" Yes, it has iApps, but pros don't need those, and for that kind of money a "consumer desktop" would sport more software, an office/home office suite of some kind, 120-180GB HDD, minimum 64MB graphics, a fast chip, and a minimum 17" LCD.
No,this is a workstation, it's fast, stripped of "extras" and expensive. In that light, 100K in half a quarter of pre-orders, well, that's pretty good.
The real problem is the rest of the consumer desktop line.
eMac needs to be 750combo drive only.
iMac needs to be 1000-1300
PMG5 can stay where it is, but something is needed to fill the middle ground between iMac and PMG5 once the iMac gets down to where it NEEDS to be.
A 1000-1600 headless machine (variously optioned) seems like the best choice. PMG4 is a step in the right direction, but still overpriced. If it included a display at the current prices, that would solve it, but the iMac is too expensive and would suffer.
Comments
Originally posted by hmurchison
Yes but realize that many of us expected the entry level G5 to be 1599-1699 starting. Had Apple hit this pricepoint they would have higher sales potentially.
1.6 G5 academic with Combo drive is only $1619. All you need to do is take a class at the local jr. college. Add in ATI 9600 and Bluetooth it's $1709.
I would have ordered two mid-ranges at the original price points immediately for my company's graphics dept.
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I have to Dec. 31 to purchase new hardware for the company for tax reasons. I'm replacing PC's here that are only 2 years old and that were significantly less expensive. We will also incur software cross grade costs as well if we switch from XP to X.
Benchmarks will let me now if we can stretch the budget for the entry G5's. At this point the high end dual is the only model that looks like it's going to hold it's own and even kick some butt (both price and power performance wise). The dual 2Ghz. models are way outside our current budget however.
I was expecting dual 1.4's @ around $1600. If the current entry and mid were duals I wouldn't be worried about busting the bank a bit.
At this point it looks like the Dells will remain. These systems need to be upgraded to something much faster and affordable.......
-tink
It's new *everything* time - and the pessimists (and optimists without a margin for error) don't want to be first into the trenches this time, and fine for them. I bought an MDD Dual less than a year ago, so I'll probably be one of 'em. So, 100,000 pre-orders as of ship-day is neither good nor bad; thing is, there's at least a million G5's worth of sales riding on what happens now. If the box holds up under the punishing scrutiny of steely-eyed Wintellians, it will be the pro-level equivalent of the iMac. If Panther cleans up nice & shows up soon & performs well, Macs could approach resepctable.
There IS pent-up demand - people desperately want a real, live, healthy, functional alternative to Windows, and many of them don't want Linux to be that alternative. The so-called Mac faithful are skittish about whether or not Apple can really pull it off this time, but the rest of the computer industry seems more prepared to accept success from Appple than at any time since the Apple ][ ruled the skies.
If the G5 can just not screw the pooch;
If Panther can just not make a giant sucking sound;
If Steve can just not step on his dick...
Then everything oughta work out just fine, and I can buy myself a dual 5GHz G6 in a couple o' years - w/ the proceeds from my Apple stock.
Until then I sit, and breathe, and practice the perfect realisation of patience *inhale* and one-ness *exhale* G5 - I mean, Panther....
*sigh*
Oh, bother.
Originally posted by Capt. Obvious
No-one's mentioned this: the zillions of posts all around the net saying "No way I'm buying RevA hardware, man! Let the early-adopters catch the shit, I'm sittin' out 'til the smoke clears...."
It's new *everything* time - and the pessimists (and optimists without a margin for error) don't want to be first into the trenches this time, and fine for them. I bought an MDD Dual less than a year ago, so I'll probably be one of 'em. So, 100,000 pre-orders as of ship-day is neither good nor bad; thing is, there's at least a million G5's worth of sales riding on what happens now. If the box holds up under the punishing scrutiny of steely-eyed Wintellians, it will be the pro-level equivalent of the iMac. If Panther cleans up nice & shows up soon & performs well, Macs could approach resepctable.
There IS pent-up demand - people desperately want a real, live, healthy, functional alternative to Windows, and many of them don't want Linux to be that alternative. The so-called Mac faithful are skittish about whether or not Apple can really pull it off this time, but the rest of the computer industry seems more prepared to accept success from Appple than at any time since the Apple ][ ruled the skies.
IT departments are probably going to wait till the second revision of G5s come out before buying large quantities.
The Adobe Photoshop plugin for the G5 is beta right? The G5 will really fly when new versions of Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator are released to use 64 bit. Until then you might as well wait for Apple to work out the kinks. Even if it just means waiting till the first batch of G5s ships.
Plus all the mess with the 3 volt verse 5 volt PCI card will keep a lot of Pros waiting. There is little use in buying a G5 if your ProTools cards don't work.
I think 100K pre-orders is good, but what really matters is if this pace keeps up or whether its a initial spike. I bet that in the next couple of weeks we are going to see a rush of reviews and if the news supports what we saw at WWDC, then I think they will have a lasting winner on their hands.
I've also read that the marked down G4's are (were?) selling well, so overall desktop CPU sales may be up for the quarter. Its easy to overllok these dated units whn discussing on future hardware, but remember that eMacs and such do sell well. The price on the dual G4 is really quite low compared to what they were not too long ago. This may be attracting more buyers. I'm optimistic we'll see a bumb up in Apple's share of the market. Headlines: "G5 boosts Apples share of the market" etc. This may be a turning point.
Originally posted by Hobbes
Just for reference, Apple boasted 150K of pre-orders when the G4 shipped.
So in that respect, yeah, it must be a little disappointing. The sluggish economy (plus maybe the increased interest in laptops) has taken its toll.
On the plus side, 100K pre-orders sure isn't anything to be ashamed of. And it's clear the most popular model is the Dual 2Ghz, at Apple's highest price point. That's got to be good news.
edit. took a while to post, Ensign, and missed yours -- but at least that '99 150K figure is now CONFIRMED.
How do you know who's ordering what?
Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon
[B]...and I read the new G5s were eating into their margins at that.
Still, 100,000 is pretty good for pre-order.
I won't pre-order. There's more people like me.
I know of 2
Originally posted by Messiah
How do you know who's ordering what?
Out of the three models, the 2GHz PowerMac was the only regular on the Apple Store's top ten list. In fact, it might have been the only one to appear on the top ten list.
It's not too much of a stretch to conclude from that evidence that the top end PowerMac is the best selling model.
Originally posted by Capt. Obvious
Until then I sit, and breathe, and practice the perfect realisation of patience *inhale* and one-ness *exhale* G5 - I mean, Panther....
*sigh*
Oh, bother.
thanks Capt. Obvious!
i needed that!!
Originally posted by JBL
Was anyone else surprised at how few preorders Apple got for the G5? ... Does anyone else find the 100,000 number disappointing?
"Pioneers get the arrows."
Pre-order people have paid a premium to be the first on their block with a new toy. Pre-order people have spent a lot of dough to become Rev A G5 beta testers. Pre-order people have spent the past few months spooking the FedEx guy with their intense staring.
Selling a 100,000 machines at $2,000-$3,000 a pop solely on the strength of marketing (it's still vaporware if it's not on the shelf) is very impressive.
No,this is a workstation, it's fast, stripped of "extras" and expensive. In that light, 100K in half a quarter of pre-orders, well, that's pretty good.
The real problem is the rest of the consumer desktop line.
eMac needs to be 750combo drive only.
iMac needs to be 1000-1300
PMG5 can stay where it is, but something is needed to fill the middle ground between iMac and PMG5 once the iMac gets down to where it NEEDS to be.
A 1000-1600 headless machine (variously optioned) seems like the best choice. PMG4 is a step in the right direction, but still overpriced. If it included a display at the current prices, that would solve it, but the iMac is too expensive and would suffer.