How many of these would Apple have to sell to make a profit? And at what price point?
I don't know about you, but I'd gladly pay $500-$600 for a Mac OS tablet.
Netbooks pose a real problem for Apple because they not only a race to the bottom, they are anti-profit machines.
The companies making them are selling lots of units. But the companies selling them are barely making any profit on those sales. Possibly as little as $20 per unit.
Apple could certainly build a better netbook. Imagine a sexy slim 10" Atom powered device. It would sell really well. And Apple would make a better margin. But the real problem for Apple is that those netbook sales would cannibalise sales of MacBook Airs, and MacBooks, which are much more profitable.
My guess is that Apple will try to introduce a very different device. Not a general purpose computer at all, but an appliance locked to the Apple infrastructure.
It won't run Mac OS X, and it won't run iPhone OS X. It will have something new. And although it will do many things, one thing you won't be able to do is by-pass the Apple iTunes/MobileMe/AppStore. (not without Jailbreaking it first)
Comments
How many of these would Apple have to sell to make a profit? And at what price point?
I don't know about you, but I'd gladly pay $500-$600 for a Mac OS tablet.
Netbooks pose a real problem for Apple because they not only a race to the bottom, they are anti-profit machines.
The companies making them are selling lots of units. But the companies selling them are barely making any profit on those sales. Possibly as little as $20 per unit.
Apple could certainly build a better netbook. Imagine a sexy slim 10" Atom powered device. It would sell really well. And Apple would make a better margin. But the real problem for Apple is that those netbook sales would cannibalise sales of MacBook Airs, and MacBooks, which are much more profitable.
My guess is that Apple will try to introduce a very different device. Not a general purpose computer at all, but an appliance locked to the Apple infrastructure.
It won't run Mac OS X, and it won't run iPhone OS X. It will have something new. And although it will do many things, one thing you won't be able to do is by-pass the Apple iTunes/MobileMe/AppStore. (not without Jailbreaking it first)
C.