Apple's struggles to meet 13-inch MacBook Air demand trigger price gouging

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 54
    bocboc Posts: 72member
    Referring to Apple as hogging the "lathe" supply to make cases means that not a single such author has ever watched Apple's video on making the MacBook Pro and Air cases.



    They use a CNC milling machine.
  • Reply 22 of 54
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BoC View Post


    Referring to Apple as hogging the "lathe" supply to make cases means that not a single such author has ever watched Apple's video on making the MacBook Pro and Air cases.



    They use a CNC milling machine.



    No, it means they're not engineering geeks and don't understand the difference, like most of the population.
  • Reply 23 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BoC View Post


    Referring to Apple as hogging the "lathe" supply to make cases means that not a single such author has ever watched Apple's video on making the MacBook Pro and Air cases.



    They use a CNC milling machine.



    We've been here before... and it wasn't pretty...
  • Reply 24 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    It was.... just 'great reading' on his part.



    I was being kind.
  • Reply 25 of 54
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    Or simply have too much disposable income.



    Yes, I will buy a 13 inch Macbook Air, but I will not pay more than Apple's price. I will simply wait. It is too bad that so many people will put this higher price on a credit card versus just waiting until supply stabilizes. I guess that mentality is what got America into the mess we are in now.




    Ha ha, that "mentality" is how basic free market enterprise works. It's the standard intersection supply and demand curves that you learn in Economics 101.



    If supply goes down, but demand is still high, raise the price and make more money. If you raise it too high, demand will go down, and you'll have to lower your price to sell your supply.



    I don't see a problem with this. I reserve "gouging" for those that jack up prices for products that are necessities, like gouging on generators after a bad storm, or food and water during a shortage. Raising the price on a luxury product? Not so much. Yeah it sucks if you can't afford it. I really want a Porsche in my driveway, but I can't afford one. So I get by with a cheaper car instead.
  • Reply 26 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Conrail View Post


    It's doubtful that Amazon is price gouging. More likely, one of their fly-by-night "partners" is jacking up the price. For some insane reason, these often come up first in Amazon searches, even when Amazon itself has an item in stock for the same or better price.



    its like google ads maybe? the more you pay Amazon the higher up it is?
  • Reply 27 of 54
    I purchased a 13" air 128gig model on Aug 6 from amazon.com using 20% off coupon (final price $986). Amazon says its expected to deliver between Aug 30- Sep 22. I am happy to wait than pay almost double of my discounted price :-)
  • Reply 28 of 54
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Supposedly the 11" version of the 2010 model outsold the 13" version 55/45%. Perhaps that is being reversed with the 2011 version because the MacBook was dropped? Note that the 13" MacBook Air at $1299 offers a faster 1.7GHz version of the i5 processor (nearly as fast as the i7), longer battery, a higher resolution screen, and the SD card slot, so it compares quite favorably to the $1199 11" model.



    Anyway, it appears Apple has another big hit on its hands with the new MacBook Air. It's 2 months ahead to market of the "ultrabooks" and has gotten great reviews.
  • Reply 29 of 54
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Why not just report that contrained supply has allowed third-party sellers to charge above-MSRP prices? It's not "gouging" and it's doesn't appear to be any of the national "name-brand" retailers (e.g., Best Buy, MacMall, etc.). Amazon itself (interestingly enough) doesn't seem to have any of the new 13" model to sell. It's only their "partners" who are selling them:

    $1,549.00 + $7.64 shipping

    In Stock. Sold by Tromo Electronics



    For the 11" Amazon has them in stock and (as usual) is selling them slightly below MSRP. It would be very newsworthy if Amazon itself were selling above list price, but they aren't.





    As an Apple shareholder, if this supply/demand imbalance doesn't rectify itself pretty soon, I might argue that Apple screwed up by pricing the 13" too low. Better than Apple reap the extra $100 or so rather than "Tromo Electronics."
  • Reply 30 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    ..as the Wintards like to say...



    If you feel okay referring to the small mass of Windows fans as Wintards, may I suggest referring to Apple fans as A-holes (A for Apple of course).
  • Reply 31 of 54
    I was someone who would have bought a new macBook Air but didn't because i needed a larger hard drive capacity than 256 GB offered by its SSD drive. i wonder how long it'll be before Airs are available with 512 GB drives? Any chance that Apple will increase SSD capacities before next refresh?
  • Reply 32 of 54
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    When the 2010 models debut, Apple was selling way more 11" models than the 13" model. I got the relatively unpopular 13" at the time, and it's great. Why the reversal in popularity?



    I can only speculate, but my guess would be that for the 2010 model, performance was significantly below the MBP, so the people buying it were choosing portability at the expense of performance. With the 2011 model, performance is quite acceptable and doesn't involve as much of a sacrifice, so even some performance oriented people might choose the MBA - and many would prefer the larger screen.
  • Reply 33 of 54
    Why would anyone buy from a "price gouger"?



    Apple.com has all models of the Macbook Air in stock at the price they should be with free shipping within 24 hours.



    Am I missing something?
  • Reply 34 of 54
    Maybe the 13" MBAs are so popular now because their performance and capbilites are closer to 13" macbooks/macbook pros, and thus consumers who prefer the larger size laptop are trending toward the MBA models because of the weight and bulk factors.
  • Reply 35 of 54
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rothgarr View Post


    Why would anyone buy from a "price gouger"?



    Apple.com has all models of the Macbook Air in stock at the price they should be with free shipping within 24 hours.



    Am I missing something?



    Excellent question. I suspect they will catch a few suckers who assume that Amazon always has the market price and doesn't notice that they are buying from so no-name third-party instead. Some consumers aren't very sophisticated even in this day and age.
  • Reply 36 of 54
    cmf2cmf2 Posts: 1,427member
    Deleted, misread comment.
  • Reply 37 of 54
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


    They're called CNC "milling" machines, not CNC lathes.



    Yes either mills or routers. More importantly they aren't that expensive these days.



    The unfortunate thing here is that Appleinsider can't seem to manage the simple editorial control to terminate this major screw up. It is one thing to make a mistake one out of ignorance but this has been corrected so many times the mistake is no longer acceptable.

    Quote:

    It appears as though Apple is up to its old tricks as the Wintards like to say. Deliberately holding back inventory to hype the products. After all, if consumers aren't buying Wintel PCs, why would they be buying overpriced Apple products?



    That is total BS. There is no evidence at all that Apple is holding back. The only thing I see is a possible preference for their own stores.
  • Reply 38 of 54
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post


    We've been here before... and it wasn't pretty...



    The fact that it keeps happening in AI articles just highlights that AI isn't even trying to promote accurate editorial contact. One is a mistake. Continually repeating such crap really should be a flogging offense.



    It makes about as much sense as the global warming debate where both sides continually reference discredited or fabricated evidence. It is one thing to be a sucker once but it is totally another to keep relying on evidence that is no longer acceptable to anyone. In the case of this thread there is a dramatic difference between a lathe and a mill. So much so that it imPacts the validity of the entire article.
  • Reply 39 of 54
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gustav View Post


    No, it means they're not engineering geeks and don't understand the difference, like most of the population.



    Total BS! If this article was about aviation and they used the word helicopter inplace of the word airplane would you accept that? Especially if the context was about an airplane. It is one thing to make one mistake but this is not the case here. I don't see how this can reflect positively on Appleinsider at all if they continue to accept editorial content that is so wrong. It is especially questionable when nothing is done to correct usage here after hunreds have spoken up.



    In the end allowing this to go on just muddies the site.
  • Reply 40 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Conrail View Post


    It's doubtful that Amazon is price gouging. More likely, one of their fly-by-night "partners" is jacking up the price. For some insane reason, these often come up first in Amazon searches, even when Amazon itself has an item in stock for the same or better price.



    Yeah, that was bad reporting. It is third-party sellers on Amazon who are jacking up their prices, and because Amazon itself is out of stock it shows the best price available from a third party?in this case a markup. So no, not a 'major retailer'?just jackasses on a major retail site.
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