During the Q3 2007 financial results conference call Apple also noted product transition and lower margins because of this. Few weeks later, on August 7th, the new iMac was introduced. The 24" unit was aggressively priced considering size, old model prices etc. but was not cheap.
The iMac, iPod and iPhone sales gave Apple a good understanding how prices affect volumes.
Currently, the product transition could be new Mac Book and Mac Book Pro models, possibly other new stuff too. Not necessarily a breakthrough new device. If aggressively priced, these could bring Apple to a new shipping volumes level and further accelerate the astonishing growth of Mac sales.
Apple can go ahead with similar steps for the iPhone product line.
Basically Apple wants to move massive volumes of laptops (shifting a lot of focus away from iMac and Mac Pro) over the next 3-5 months. Desktops coming in back to hold their own during holiday buying frenzy.
Expect huge volumes of solid state purchases. They may be top 5 of 120-160gb range solid state drive purchasers in the next six months.
Sorry mate! If you are talking about notebooks, then your rivals have been already successfully stole your sales. Looks at what the others do, pushing notebooks out with the new C2D and ?45 chipset at the "ready for back-to-school" summer time. Unless, of couse, if you think summer begin at September...
If you are talking about workstations, then you might still have a chance. As we only see the p45 chips in the DIY market, which you are not aiming for...
Good Luck mate
LOL You're suggesting that the great thing about new laptops that edge out the Macs is the "C2D P45" and so on? A chipset and CPU in and of itself does not a fantastic "back-to-school" laptop make. Obviously you don't get what Apple is about. Also, what have the rivals stolen? Apple consistently sells more Mac than the year before...
Think about it. A reading device! Perhaps not it's own device, but think of the ipod touch with a new e-ink accessory? I mean, you already have a device that can provide power, it has wireless abilities....that would be awesome!
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
Think about it. A reading device! Perhaps not it's own device, but think of the ipod touch with a new e-ink accessory? I mean, you already have a device that can provide power, it has wireless abilities....that would be awesome!
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
It just makes sense.
If it's like a foldable dual 13inch (think macbook air but with LED LCD screen on both inner sides, full multi-touch), this would be THE EBOOK THAT WILL DEFINE THE 21ST CENTURY when publishing took a step out of the gutterberg(sic, get it?) into the light.
Maybe the big thing is that colleges across the USA will have these as an option - full MacEbook for all your courses, never worry about leaving your books back in the dorm or at your friends' place or losing it.
THE E-LEARNING REVOLUTION THAT WAS PROMISED TO US.
A US $99 version for all developing countries. !! Wow. My mind just blew.
Think about it. A reading device! Perhaps not it's own device, but think of the ipod touch with a new e-ink accessory? I mean, you already have a device that can provide power, it has wireless abilities....that would be awesome!
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
It just makes sense.
It cannot be less than 10" per screen! But other than that I am loving your idea. Imagine if it could fold 4-way or 6-way. Foldable multi-touch screen laptops. If Apple pulls it off, no-one else would come close for at least another year. Unless them China-based manufacturers go AWOL on Apple and do some dirty deeds.
If it's like a foldable dual 13inch (think macbook air but with LED LCD screen on both inner sides, full multi-touch), this would be THE EBOOK THAT WILL DEFINE THE 21ST CENTURY when publishing took a step out of the gutterberg(sic, get it?) into the light.
Maybe the big thing is that colleges across the USA will have these as an option - full MacEbook for all your courses, never worry about leaving your books back in the dorm or at your friends' place or losing it.
THE E-LEARNING REVOLUTION THAT WAS PROMISED TO US.
A US $99 version for all developing countries. !! Wow. My mind just blew.
E Ink has the ability to be layered on top of an OLED display and serve has a dual function screen. I don't envision on side lcd and the other eink...you'd still need the protection for the screen...but perhaps a new manufacturing ability to just spray on the eink on apple's current led lcd screen or adopt new oled screens and voila! If this were the case, then yes a twisting screen would be needed.
Or the tablet pc that we've been speculating for years. But here's the kicker of how it would work.
It would be the thinnest screen on earth. And would have no intelligence built in...just wifi and the most basic processor. Then computing would occur over wifi to ipod touch or iphone. I mean we already have the OS on the devices...and apple has no qualms about using wifi (airport express itunes controll(5yrs+), touch/iphone itunes control, apple tv control, hard drive over network (macbook air).
you know what. SJ is also coming to terms with the market dominance that his company can achieve...I'm seriously expecting that they'll be pulling out all the stops 2008/2010.
I think Apple may be on a slippery slope here. Saying your going to kill the competition by making sure they can't under cut your prices is a little monopolistic isn't it? I mean they don't have enough PC share to garner any law suits but if they bring out something that completely kills the competition in the mp3 market I can easily see SanDisk, Archos, and even MS jumping on board saying Apple is involved in un-competitive practices and they are trying to create a monopoly. I just think they need to watch their words a little closer as they become bigger and bigger and have more and more control over stuff like the digital music market...
Noticed a few predictions that really don't make sense if you look at what Apple has done.
Blu-ray support - Er...what was so radically different about the MacBook Air? Right, it completely lacked a disc drive. Their most successful products - iPods and now the iPhone - don't use disc drives. And last year everyone probably remembers how they didn't really overhaul iDVD. Apple is moving away from disc based media, not towards it. They also pretty much prohibit any form of DRM other than their own humane FairPlay, which is mainly there because of the music labels and movie studios, not because they wanted it.
Touch-screen Macs - I can see the thought process, but Apple has already put Multi-Touch into two of their three laptops in the last few months: the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Why would they then slap a Multi-Touch display on any of their computers? Side note: Apple likely won't add Multi-Touch to their Cinema Displays, nor the iMac. Why? Because Apple is looking to the future, which is mobile WiFi devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, not desktops. Not saying they're going to kill the iMac or Mac Pro anytime soon, but they sell many more laptops and they promote mobile platforms.
Licensing Mac OS X to third parties - Never happening. Apple's a hardware company. They use software to add value to their products and differentiate them from the competition. The reason Mac OS X is so much more stable than Windows and even Linux is because it is run off hardware built for it, and vice versa. Apple could never hope to support the umpteen PC configurations out there. Don't forget, Windows is successful because of anti-competitive, anti-consumer exclusive OEM deals with third part hardware vendors that stifle competition from alternatives like Linux and Microsoft promotes closed, proprietary formats like WMA and WMV that tie the user to their platform. If Apple tried to sell Mac OS X on its own for profit, they'd be going up against a monopoly that even the free Linux distros are having a hell of a time breaking into.
Don't forget, Apple is outpacing the PC industry 3 to 1. They have no reason to move into the stagnating market they're competing and winning against. Remember, all software they do make Windows compatible is...FREE. iTunes and Safari. MobileMe is selling software as a service. It's the only major consumer oriented online email that doesn't feature advertising because of the annual fee. They have to charge for it if they want to keep it ad free and provide online storage space.
Noticed a few predictions that really don't make sense if you look at what Apple has done.
Blu-ray support - Er...what was so radically different about the MacBook Air? Right, it completely lacked a disc drive. Their most successful products - iPods and now the iPhone - don't use disc drives. And last year everyone probably remembers how they didn't really overhaul iDVD. Apple is moving away from disc based media, not towards it. They also pretty much prohibit any form of DRM other than their own humane FairPlay, which is mainly there because of the music labels and movie studios, not because they wanted it.
Touch-screen Macs - I can see the thought process, but Apple has already put Multi-Touch into two of their three laptops in the last few months: the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Why would they then slap a Multi-Touch display on any of their computers? Side note: Apple likely won't add Multi-Touch to their Cinema Displays, nor the iMac. Why? Because Apple is looking to the future, which is mobile WiFi devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, not desktops. Not saying they're going to kill the iMac or Mac Pro anytime soon, but they sell many more laptops and they promote mobile platforms.
Licensing Mac OS X to third parties - Never happening. Apple's a hardware company. They use software to add value to their products and differentiate them from the competition. The reason Mac OS X is so much more stable than Windows and even Linux is because it is run off hardware built for it, and vice versa. Apple could never hope to support the umpteen PC configurations out there. Don't forget, Windows is successful because of anti-competitive, anti-consumer exclusive OEM deals with third part hardware vendors that stifle competition from alternatives like Linux and Microsoft promotes closed, proprietary formats like WMA and WMV that tie the user to their platform. If Apple tried to sell Mac OS X on its own for profit, they'd be going up against a monopoly that even the free Linux distros are having a hell of a time breaking into.
Don't forget, Apple is outpacing the PC industry 3 to 1. They have no reason to move into the stagnating market they're competing and winning against. Remember, all software they do make Windows compatible is...FREE. iTunes and Safari. MobileMe is selling software as a service. It's the only major consumer oriented online email that doesn't feature advertising because of the annual fee. They have to charge for it if they want to keep it ad free and $100 is a damn good price for everything else it offers now.
What he said.
Though I do think that apple should offer Blue Ray on it's PRO computers. I understand that they are moving away from optical media for the consumer. But video professionals still need to deliver on DVDs in most cases and Blue ray just happens to be the latest incarnation of this.
Agreed. Guys, there's no way Apple is going to be selling OS X for PC anytime this year. Srsly.
I agree. It seems to me that all of the suggestions in the thread are pretty mundane. If Apple thinks it's going to dent their enormous profits that much then whatever it is is costing a lot either in spending or lost revenue. I seriously doubt the latter so I think it is a big spend. Remember the FCC are selling off the TV spectrum once TV Digital goes 100%. Maybe this is related somehow? But then this is too soon for that ... mmmm... In which case I go for an Apple transporter than can beam you home from work ...
Did Oppenheimer actually say "shut out rivals" or is that interpretation by those reporting on the call?
.
His words are something like Apple doesn't want to leave a margin so high that it creates an "umbrella" for competitors to rest under in terms of price.
So, this is NOT A MAC. No matter how Apple prices Mac, the above statement doesn't apply. Look elsewhere.
His words are something like Apple doesn't want to leave a margin so high that it creates an "umbrella" for competitors to rest under in terms of price.
So, this is NOT A MAC. No matter how Apple prices Mac, the above statement doesn't apply. Look elsewhere.
Unless it is a massive drop in some new Mac platform to undercut home PCs totally? I doubt it though ... but a $499 iMac would rather mess with Dell's head.
We are talking something big that will eat profits in order to get the company to a better place.
So in the past there was OS9 -> OS X and recently we had Power -> Intel.
It's not going to be Intel -> PA Semi
It's not going to be OS X - > OS XI
So what is it?
It could be Mouse -> Touch. But are their productivity gains in pointing at a monitor?
It could be HDD -> SDD but I am not sure customers can actually feel the benefit yet.
It could be "OS X exclusive" -> "OS X licensed". The time really is right for this one.
The only other one I can think of is..
Notebook -> Netbook
By this I mean completely reposition the Macbook as a lower-cost device. Going up against stuff like the MSI Wind. The Netbook thing is really picking-up speed. Apple already has a netbook, But the Air is 4 times the price of the competition.
Though I do think that apple should offer Blue Ray on it's PRO computers. I understand that they are moving away from optical media for the consumer. But video professionals still need to deliver on DVDs in most cases and Blue ray just happens to be the latest incarnation of this.
Ha, thanks.
And I see your point. Blu-ray is certainly more modern and Apple supported the format by being a member of its consortium, but that was mainly in opposition of Microsoft's backing of HD-DVD, which featured more DRM developed by MS that...wait for it...tied the user to Windows.
Aren't there already Blu-ray drives sold by third parties that come with BD writing software for Macs?
Apple's still consumer oriented. Considering how few DVDs most people burn on their computers, let alone watch on them and add to that Apple's own efforts to get the major movie studios on board with iTunes, I don't see them offering BD support. Then the studios would say "well, we'll just release on BD then, where we can make much more money with a format that features more draconian DRM." At the same time, Apple's in a strange predicament with its high standing in media and entertainment production.
I think Apple may be on a slippery slope here. Saying your going to kill the competition by making sure they can't under cut your prices is a little monopolistic isn't it? I mean they don't have enough PC share to garner any law suits but if they bring out something that completely kills the competition in the mp3 market I can easily see SanDisk, Archos, and even MS jumping on board saying Apple is involved in un-competitive practices and they are trying to create a monopoly. I just think they need to watch their words a little closer as they become bigger and bigger and have more and more control over stuff like the digital music market...
Monopolistic? Perhaps? Illegal? Not at all! As has been discussed time and time again, monopolies are not inherently illegal. Simply crushing your competition by offering a good product at a low price is in no way illegal. What would be illegal is if Apple were to tell their flash memory suppliers that they will refuse to buy their chips unless they stop selling chips to Apple's competitors. This would be parallel to MS telling PC makers they couldn't sell PCs unless they included Windows installed, which is one of the things MS got in trouble for doing. Of course, at the time MS's monopoly was around 90%+ of the computer market whereas the iPod is only about 70% of the audio player market. (Note: If the chip suppliers choose to fulfill Apple's orders ahead of other customers in order to keep their biggest client happy,which has happend in the past, this is again not necessarily indicative of an illegal monopoly. You'd have to have evidence that Apple coerced them to take the action.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by teckstud
Simple: The merger of the MacMini and the Apple Tv. In other words an Apple TV with a disk drive. It will now run OSX as an option: surf the web, shop Amazon, eBay , etc. Choose either Tv or Mac like Parallels.
Bye, Bye to both - Hello to Mac TV!!!
This is an interesting possibility. But it wouldn't even need all the web surfing, etc, for me to consider it. Over the past several months there have been several new set-top, online movie rental boxes released (one in partnership with Amazon movie service and one with Netflix). These are both direct threats to the iTunes ecosystem. A more powerful AppleTV at a rock bottom price could pull the rug out from under these upstarts.
Rather than being a full-blown Mac, it could be modelled after the iPhone where you don't have a Finder, per se, but you have a few key apps on the home screen (and later they could add an AppleTV app store?). It's got to play my current movie collection (just like the iPod can play my current CD connection). I don't care how they do it. Add an optical drive, let it play video_ts folders, provide a way to legally rip my DVDs, or implement something like the MacBook Air's remote DVD drive feature. If it can't do that it's a non-starter for me. I'll just stick with my mini, thank you.
I like it. xMac to shut out their competition, that being Pystar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CDonG4
It's definitely going to be a newish product.
...
I'm thinking xMac might finally rear its head (I've always. This xMac could be modular and suit a variety of needs. DVR + Media Center + BluRay player... or a File Server + NAS + Drobo like backup system... or a desktop with limited expandability based on a mini atx form facotr. Perhaps its not as flexible as this (perhaps it is) and its the counterpart to the tablet.
/wildest apple dreams of the last 20 years coming true
Throw in the Apple TV capabilities, I like this, but won't hold out any hope for this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigmc6000
I think Apple may be on a slippery slope here. Saying your going to kill the competition by making sure they can't under cut your prices is a little monopolistic isn't it? I mean they don't have enough PC share to garner any law suits but if they bring out something that completely kills the competition in the mp3 market I can easily see SanDisk, Archos, and even MS jumping on board saying Apple is involved in un-competitive practices and they are trying to create a monopoly. I just think they need to watch their words a little closer as they become bigger and bigger and have more and more control over stuff like the digital music market...
Even a 30% gross margin is a fantasy for Dell and HP. So I doubt whatever it is will draw the attention of any regulatory agency. Apple is sacrificing some minor margin to introduce some technology to some product that will transition a product line or several of their product lines. The product will have some improved technology, yet will remain price competitive (at least as Apple defines price competitive).
I thought I'd parse Peter Oppenheimer's statements and make my own distinct prognostication.
a key "product transition"
cuts back on its profit margins
help shut out rivals
The new, unnamed product
continue to have "technologies and features that others can't match
hmmm, what new, unnamed product could possibly fit all the above criteria. On second thought, nothing I can come up with fits, I give.
Comments
During the Q3 2007 financial results conference call Apple also noted product transition and lower margins because of this. Few weeks later, on August 7th, the new iMac was introduced. The 24" unit was aggressively priced considering size, old model prices etc. but was not cheap.
The iMac, iPod and iPhone sales gave Apple a good understanding how prices affect volumes.
Currently, the product transition could be new Mac Book and Mac Book Pro models, possibly other new stuff too. Not necessarily a breakthrough new device. If aggressively priced, these could bring Apple to a new shipping volumes level and further accelerate the astonishing growth of Mac sales.
Apple can go ahead with similar steps for the iPhone product line.
Basically Apple wants to move massive volumes of laptops (shifting a lot of focus away from iMac and Mac Pro) over the next 3-5 months. Desktops coming in back to hold their own during holiday buying frenzy.
Expect huge volumes of solid state purchases. They may be top 5 of 120-160gb range solid state drive purchasers in the next six months.
Sorry mate! If you are talking about notebooks, then your rivals have been already successfully stole your sales. Looks at what the others do, pushing notebooks out with the new C2D and ?45 chipset at the "ready for back-to-school" summer time.
If you are talking about workstations, then you might still have a chance. As we only see the p45 chips in the DIY market, which you are not aiming for...
Good Luck mate
LOL You're suggesting that the great thing about new laptops that edge out the Macs is the "C2D P45" and so on? A chipset and CPU in and of itself does not a fantastic "back-to-school" laptop make. Obviously you don't get what Apple is about.
BTW I know something about DIY
Shocking to some, I know. Sorry, rest assured it was a defunct PowerMac G5 whose case I used.
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
It just makes sense.
Think about it. A reading device! Perhaps not it's own device, but think of the ipod touch with a new e-ink accessory? I mean, you already have a device that can provide power, it has wireless abilities....that would be awesome!
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
It just makes sense.
If it's like a foldable dual 13inch (think macbook air but with LED LCD screen on both inner sides, full multi-touch), this would be THE EBOOK THAT WILL DEFINE THE 21ST CENTURY when publishing took a step out of the gutterberg(sic, get it?) into the light.
Maybe the big thing is that colleges across the USA will have these as an option - full MacEbook for all your courses, never worry about leaving your books back in the dorm or at your friends' place or losing it.
THE E-LEARNING REVOLUTION THAT WAS PROMISED TO US.
A US $99 version for all developing countries. !! Wow. My mind just blew.
Think about it. A reading device! Perhaps not it's own device, but think of the ipod touch with a new e-ink accessory? I mean, you already have a device that can provide power, it has wireless abilities....that would be awesome!
It makes complete sense. Jobs could include the book subscriptions in iTunes and consume the e-book, e-newspaper ecology.
It just makes sense.
It cannot be less than 10" per screen! But other than that I am loving your idea.
If it's like a foldable dual 13inch (think macbook air but with LED LCD screen on both inner sides, full multi-touch), this would be THE EBOOK THAT WILL DEFINE THE 21ST CENTURY when publishing took a step out of the gutterberg(sic, get it?) into the light.
Maybe the big thing is that colleges across the USA will have these as an option - full MacEbook for all your courses, never worry about leaving your books back in the dorm or at your friends' place or losing it.
THE E-LEARNING REVOLUTION THAT WAS PROMISED TO US.
A US $99 version for all developing countries. !! Wow. My mind just blew.
E Ink has the ability to be layered on top of an OLED display and serve has a dual function screen. I don't envision on side lcd and the other eink...you'd still need the protection for the screen...but perhaps a new manufacturing ability to just spray on the eink on apple's current led lcd screen or adopt new oled screens and voila! If this were the case, then yes a twisting screen would be needed.
You know what? I take back my statement about selling OSX on other hardware possibly being profitable...
Agreed. Guys, there's no way Apple is going to be selling OS X for PC anytime this year. Srsly.
It would be the thinnest screen on earth. And would have no intelligence built in...just wifi and the most basic processor. Then computing would occur over wifi to ipod touch or iphone. I mean we already have the OS on the devices...and apple has no qualms about using wifi (airport express itunes controll(5yrs+), touch/iphone itunes control, apple tv control, hard drive over network (macbook air).
Blu-ray support - Er...what was so radically different about the MacBook Air? Right, it completely lacked a disc drive. Their most successful products - iPods and now the iPhone - don't use disc drives. And last year everyone probably remembers how they didn't really overhaul iDVD. Apple is moving away from disc based media, not towards it. They also pretty much prohibit any form of DRM other than their own humane FairPlay, which is mainly there because of the music labels and movie studios, not because they wanted it.
Touch-screen Macs - I can see the thought process, but Apple has already put Multi-Touch into two of their three laptops in the last few months: the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Why would they then slap a Multi-Touch display on any of their computers? Side note: Apple likely won't add Multi-Touch to their Cinema Displays, nor the iMac. Why? Because Apple is looking to the future, which is mobile WiFi devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, not desktops. Not saying they're going to kill the iMac or Mac Pro anytime soon, but they sell many more laptops and they promote mobile platforms.
Licensing Mac OS X to third parties - Never happening. Apple's a hardware company. They use software to add value to their products and differentiate them from the competition. The reason Mac OS X is so much more stable than Windows and even Linux is because it is run off hardware built for it, and vice versa. Apple could never hope to support the umpteen PC configurations out there. Don't forget, Windows is successful because of anti-competitive, anti-consumer exclusive OEM deals with third part hardware vendors that stifle competition from alternatives like Linux and Microsoft promotes closed, proprietary formats like WMA and WMV that tie the user to their platform. If Apple tried to sell Mac OS X on its own for profit, they'd be going up against a monopoly that even the free Linux distros are having a hell of a time breaking into.
Don't forget, Apple is outpacing the PC industry 3 to 1. They have no reason to move into the stagnating market they're competing and winning against. Remember, all software they do make Windows compatible is...FREE. iTunes and Safari. MobileMe is selling software as a service. It's the only major consumer oriented online email that doesn't feature advertising because of the annual fee. They have to charge for it if they want to keep it ad free and provide online storage space.
Noticed a few predictions that really don't make sense if you look at what Apple has done.
Blu-ray support - Er...what was so radically different about the MacBook Air? Right, it completely lacked a disc drive. Their most successful products - iPods and now the iPhone - don't use disc drives. And last year everyone probably remembers how they didn't really overhaul iDVD. Apple is moving away from disc based media, not towards it. They also pretty much prohibit any form of DRM other than their own humane FairPlay, which is mainly there because of the music labels and movie studios, not because they wanted it.
Touch-screen Macs - I can see the thought process, but Apple has already put Multi-Touch into two of their three laptops in the last few months: the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Why would they then slap a Multi-Touch display on any of their computers? Side note: Apple likely won't add Multi-Touch to their Cinema Displays, nor the iMac. Why? Because Apple is looking to the future, which is mobile WiFi devices like the iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Air, not desktops. Not saying they're going to kill the iMac or Mac Pro anytime soon, but they sell many more laptops and they promote mobile platforms.
Licensing Mac OS X to third parties - Never happening. Apple's a hardware company. They use software to add value to their products and differentiate them from the competition. The reason Mac OS X is so much more stable than Windows and even Linux is because it is run off hardware built for it, and vice versa. Apple could never hope to support the umpteen PC configurations out there. Don't forget, Windows is successful because of anti-competitive, anti-consumer exclusive OEM deals with third part hardware vendors that stifle competition from alternatives like Linux and Microsoft promotes closed, proprietary formats like WMA and WMV that tie the user to their platform. If Apple tried to sell Mac OS X on its own for profit, they'd be going up against a monopoly that even the free Linux distros are having a hell of a time breaking into.
Don't forget, Apple is outpacing the PC industry 3 to 1. They have no reason to move into the stagnating market they're competing and winning against. Remember, all software they do make Windows compatible is...FREE. iTunes and Safari. MobileMe is selling software as a service. It's the only major consumer oriented online email that doesn't feature advertising because of the annual fee. They have to charge for it if they want to keep it ad free and $100 is a damn good price for everything else it offers now.
What he said.
Though I do think that apple should offer Blue Ray on it's PRO computers. I understand that they are moving away from optical media for the consumer. But video professionals still need to deliver on DVDs in most cases and Blue ray just happens to be the latest incarnation of this.
Agreed. Guys, there's no way Apple is going to be selling OS X for PC anytime this year. Srsly.
I agree. It seems to me that all of the suggestions in the thread are pretty mundane. If Apple thinks it's going to dent their enormous profits that much then whatever it is is costing a lot either in spending or lost revenue. I seriously doubt the latter so I think it is a big spend. Remember the FCC are selling off the TV spectrum once TV Digital goes 100%. Maybe this is related somehow? But then this is too soon for that ... mmmm... In which case I go for an Apple transporter than can beam you home from work ...
Did Oppenheimer actually say "shut out rivals" or is that interpretation by those reporting on the call?
.
His words are something like Apple doesn't want to leave a margin so high that it creates an "umbrella" for competitors to rest under in terms of price.
So, this is NOT A MAC. No matter how Apple prices Mac, the above statement doesn't apply. Look elsewhere.
His words are something like Apple doesn't want to leave a margin so high that it creates an "umbrella" for competitors to rest under in terms of price.
So, this is NOT A MAC. No matter how Apple prices Mac, the above statement doesn't apply. Look elsewhere.
Unless it is a massive drop in some new Mac platform to undercut home PCs totally? I doubt it though ... but a $499 iMac would rather mess with Dell's head.
What you want to watch - when you want to watch it.
Get AppleTV (with no hard disk).
Select iTunes TV Plan - where you decide what channels you want to pay for on a monthly basis, and what channels you want to watch PPV...
Good luck negotiating that one with the networks!
We are talking something big that will eat profits in order to get the company to a better place.
So in the past there was OS9 -> OS X and recently we had Power -> Intel.
It's not going to be Intel -> PA Semi
It's not going to be OS X - > OS XI
So what is it?
It could be Mouse -> Touch. But are their productivity gains in pointing at a monitor?
It could be HDD -> SDD but I am not sure customers can actually feel the benefit yet.
It could be "OS X exclusive" -> "OS X licensed". The time really is right for this one.
The only other one I can think of is..
Notebook -> Netbook
By this I mean completely reposition the Macbook as a lower-cost device. Going up against stuff like the MSI Wind. The Netbook thing is really picking-up speed. Apple already has a netbook, But the Air is 4 times the price of the competition.
C.
What he said.
Though I do think that apple should offer Blue Ray on it's PRO computers. I understand that they are moving away from optical media for the consumer. But video professionals still need to deliver on DVDs in most cases and Blue ray just happens to be the latest incarnation of this.
Ha, thanks.
And I see your point. Blu-ray is certainly more modern and Apple supported the format by being a member of its consortium, but that was mainly in opposition of Microsoft's backing of HD-DVD, which featured more DRM developed by MS that...wait for it...tied the user to Windows.
Aren't there already Blu-ray drives sold by third parties that come with BD writing software for Macs?
Apple's still consumer oriented. Considering how few DVDs most people burn on their computers, let alone watch on them and add to that Apple's own efforts to get the major movie studios on board with iTunes, I don't see them offering BD support. Then the studios would say "well, we'll just release on BD then, where we can make much more money with a format that features more draconian DRM." At the same time, Apple's in a strange predicament with its high standing in media and entertainment production.
I think Apple may be on a slippery slope here. Saying your going to kill the competition by making sure they can't under cut your prices is a little monopolistic isn't it? I mean they don't have enough PC share to garner any law suits but if they bring out something that completely kills the competition in the mp3 market I can easily see SanDisk, Archos, and even MS jumping on board saying Apple is involved in un-competitive practices and they are trying to create a monopoly. I just think they need to watch their words a little closer as they become bigger and bigger and have more and more control over stuff like the digital music market...
Monopolistic? Perhaps? Illegal? Not at all! As has been discussed time and time again, monopolies are not inherently illegal. Simply crushing your competition by offering a good product at a low price is in no way illegal. What would be illegal is if Apple were to tell their flash memory suppliers that they will refuse to buy their chips unless they stop selling chips to Apple's competitors. This would be parallel to MS telling PC makers they couldn't sell PCs unless they included Windows installed, which is one of the things MS got in trouble for doing. Of course, at the time MS's monopoly was around 90%+ of the computer market whereas the iPod is only about 70% of the audio player market. (Note: If the chip suppliers choose to fulfill Apple's orders ahead of other customers in order to keep their biggest client happy,which has happend in the past, this is again not necessarily indicative of an illegal monopoly. You'd have to have evidence that Apple coerced them to take the action.)
Simple: The merger of the MacMini and the Apple Tv. In other words an Apple TV with a disk drive. It will now run OSX as an option: surf the web, shop Amazon, eBay , etc. Choose either Tv or Mac like Parallels.
Bye, Bye to both - Hello to Mac TV!!!
This is an interesting possibility. But it wouldn't even need all the web surfing, etc, for me to consider it. Over the past several months there have been several new set-top, online movie rental boxes released (one in partnership with Amazon movie service and one with Netflix). These are both direct threats to the iTunes ecosystem. A more powerful AppleTV at a rock bottom price could pull the rug out from under these upstarts.
Rather than being a full-blown Mac, it could be modelled after the iPhone where you don't have a Finder, per se, but you have a few key apps on the home screen (and later they could add an AppleTV app store?). It's got to play my current movie collection (just like the iPod can play my current CD connection). I don't care how they do it. Add an optical drive, let it play video_ts folders, provide a way to legally rip my DVDs, or implement something like the MacBook Air's remote DVD drive feature. If it can't do that it's a non-starter for me. I'll just stick with my mini, thank you.
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I like it. xMac to shut out their competition, that being Pystar.
It's definitely going to be a newish product.
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I'm thinking xMac might finally rear its head (I've always. This xMac could be modular and suit a variety of needs. DVR + Media Center + BluRay player... or a File Server + NAS + Drobo like backup system... or a desktop with limited expandability based on a mini atx form facotr. Perhaps its not as flexible as this (perhaps it is) and its the counterpart to the tablet.
/wildest apple dreams of the last 20 years coming true
Throw in the Apple TV capabilities, I like this, but won't hold out any hope for this.
I think Apple may be on a slippery slope here. Saying your going to kill the competition by making sure they can't under cut your prices is a little monopolistic isn't it? I mean they don't have enough PC share to garner any law suits but if they bring out something that completely kills the competition in the mp3 market I can easily see SanDisk, Archos, and even MS jumping on board saying Apple is involved in un-competitive practices and they are trying to create a monopoly. I just think they need to watch their words a little closer as they become bigger and bigger and have more and more control over stuff like the digital music market...
Even a 30% gross margin is a fantasy for Dell and HP. So I doubt whatever it is will draw the attention of any regulatory agency. Apple is sacrificing some minor margin to introduce some technology to some product that will transition a product line or several of their product lines. The product will have some improved technology, yet will remain price competitive (at least as Apple defines price competitive).
I thought I'd parse Peter Oppenheimer's statements and make my own distinct prognostication.
a key "product transition"
cuts back on its profit margins
help shut out rivals
The new, unnamed product
continue to have "technologies and features that others can't match
hmmm, what new, unnamed product could possibly fit all the above criteria. On second thought, nothing I can come up with fits, I give.