Apple to offer employees $500 off a new Mac, $250 off iPads - report [u]
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook reportedly informed employees this week that later this year they will be able to buy an iPad with a $250 discount, while Macs will be available for $500 off.
Update: Tipsters have revealed to AppleInsider that the Apple discounts will stack on top of the preexisting 25 percent discount.
Starting in June, the discounts will be available to employees who have worked more than 90 days at Apple, according to The Register. Employees will be able to obtain the $750 in discounts once every three years.
The announcement was made by Cook in a "town hall" meeting put on by Apple with its employees. It came a day after Apple announced a record quarter, in which it earned $13 billion.
For some products and configurations, the new discounts go well beyond what Apple has traditionally offered. Employees can currently receive a 25 percent discount on a complete Mac system one time per year.
But $500 off would actually be a reduced discount for some of Apple's high-end products when compared to the current 25 percent reduction. For example, a maxed-out 17-inch MacBook Pro, with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive, can cost over $4,000 at retail, and a 25 percent discount would amount to $1,000 in savings, or twice that of the new promotion.
But $500 off would be a larger discount in most cases. For example, an employee looking to buy the entry-level 11.6-inch MacBook Air would pay just $500 for the usually $999 notebook, while a 25 percent discount would only reduce the price to about $750.
The new perk also applies to all Apple employees, and not just those who work at the company's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. That means more than 60,000 workers, including those at Apple's hundreds of retail stores, will be eligible for the promotion.
Update: Tipsters have revealed to AppleInsider that the Apple discounts will stack on top of the preexisting 25 percent discount.
Starting in June, the discounts will be available to employees who have worked more than 90 days at Apple, according to The Register. Employees will be able to obtain the $750 in discounts once every three years.
The announcement was made by Cook in a "town hall" meeting put on by Apple with its employees. It came a day after Apple announced a record quarter, in which it earned $13 billion.
For some products and configurations, the new discounts go well beyond what Apple has traditionally offered. Employees can currently receive a 25 percent discount on a complete Mac system one time per year.
But $500 off would actually be a reduced discount for some of Apple's high-end products when compared to the current 25 percent reduction. For example, a maxed-out 17-inch MacBook Pro, with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive, can cost over $4,000 at retail, and a 25 percent discount would amount to $1,000 in savings, or twice that of the new promotion.
But $500 off would be a larger discount in most cases. For example, an employee looking to buy the entry-level 11.6-inch MacBook Air would pay just $500 for the usually $999 notebook, while a 25 percent discount would only reduce the price to about $750.
The new perk also applies to all Apple employees, and not just those who work at the company's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. That means more than 60,000 workers, including those at Apple's hundreds of retail stores, will be eligible for the promotion.
Comments
FYI, I've seen some posts by Apple employees that indicate that the two discounts can be used together, which contradicts the article somewhat.
I think this is a smart move. Apple employees already get a 25% discount once a year, so when you put $500 with that you get a good incentive to buy a machine. I'm sure there are a few employees that don't have Macs or iPads and this will help them to be better evangelists, especially in the retail space where the employees would be the most likely ones to not own a current product.
FYI, I've seen some posts by Apple employees that indicate that the two discounts can be used together, which contradicts the article somewhat.
Yes to this. However, it seems to me that Apple ought to really WANT all their employees to have iPads. Point being, they could get first-hand feedback (input from customers is SECOND-hand) on how a relatively new device performs in the real world, and also on what folks WANT it to do that it does not. With its astounding profits, and with a new iPad model coming around the bend anyway, Apple should GIVE each employee an iPad, while also offering discounts on its other products. Or if not this, than at least a much larger discount keyed to how long they've worked for Apple.
But $500 off would actually be a reduced discount for some of Apple's high-end products [...]
But $500 off would be a larger discount in most cases.
it's this kind of riveting analysis i've come to expect from appleinsider.com
You mean the chairman of HP has to pay full price for his MacBook Air, but the Apple Store staff who sold him the machine only has to pay $799?
I'm not getting your "wow" reaction to this. Why would a competitor's board member get a special discount just by walking into an Apple store and asking to buy an Air? Why would it be unbelievable that an Apple employee can buy an Apple product that is subsidized by their own employer? Even if HP had some type of corporate volume contract with Apple where it could buy discounted items, I still think an Apple employee discount could be higher.
... I still think an Apple employee discount could be higher.
Why? Because they don't get paid?
Excellent deal for Apple employees, and they certainly deserve it. Funny thing is that Apple will still likely turn a profit on those sales, albeit much smaller obviously.
Apple's gross margin this past quarter was a whopping 48%.
I'm sure it isn't that high on most Macs but still probably over 25% on some.
You mean the chairman of HP has to pay full price for his MacBook Air, but the Apple Store staff who sold him the machine only has to pay $799?
The chairman of HP is is worth $850 million. I think he can afford it.
Starting in June, the discounts will be available to employees who have worked more than 90 days at Apple, according to The Register. Employees will be able to obtain the $750 in discounts once every three years.
The announcement was made by Cook in a "town hall" meeting put on by Apple with its employees. It came a day after Apple announced a record quarter, in which it earned $13 billion.
For some products and configurations, the new discounts go well beyond what Apple has traditionally offered. Employees can currently receive a 25 percent discount on a complete Mac system one time per year.
But $500 off would actually be a reduced discount for some of Apple's high-end products when compared to the current 25 percent reduction. For example, a maxed-out 17-inch MacBook Pro, with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive, can cost over $4,000 at retail, and a 25 percent discount would amount to $1,000 in savings, or twice that of the new promotion.
This comment from an Apple employee was overheard " Boy am I glad I waited, Dell and HP both offered me $1000.00 if I would take one of their machines for free. I did turn them down. "
I predict that you'll see a lot of these end up on eBay.
The 25% off the Mac Pro was a better deal.
I suspect 95% of employees (if not 99%) are happier with this flat $500 deal. On the other hand, it probably would have been better if they had said "$500 or 25% of the retail price, whichever is greater" to recognize that SOME people have a need for a Mac Pro (I assume, since it's no one I know personally).
For some products and configurations, the new discounts go well beyond what Apple has traditionally offered. Employees can currently receive a 25 percent discount on a complete Mac system one time per year.
But $500 off would actually be a reduced discount for some of Apple's high-end products when compared to the current 25 percent reduction.
The article is looking at this incorrectly. The new incentive is in addition to the current offering. Employees will still have access to their annual 25% reduction but will also get this additional, every 3 year discount. Employees come out ahead here regardless of buying high-end or low-end products.
... I still think an Apple employee discount could be higher.
As with any other business - comparisons should logically be drawn against what competitors are offering. Having a brother working for HP, and having worked for both Intel and Dell - I can say that the competition's offerings for discounts to employees are a sick joke. At Dell, I could go through some red tape, sign a document that threatened my job if I sold the computer/Jukebox/laptop/display/printer or anyting else; instead of using it for personal use. Then, I was offered a whopping 15% off the full price. Generally speaking, the price I was offered (after the red tape and threats) was hundreds of dollars MORE than what the public was offered at any given time.
I invite you to look at the Dell Website, and you will see two prices. One is the "List Price" (this is the one that gets me the 15% discount) and the other is the "Today's Sale Price" which is generally 25-50% less than the List price.
So, compared against the competition - Apple is a stand-out success. This is, in my book, a very SMART move by Apple. This will boost morale, and encourage their employees to become active Apple users, not only at work, but at home and in their personal lives too.
I see no downside to this - for anyone.
pretty please.
Every 3 years seems like a long time between upgrades. At least for me it is.
I agree. I want Apple employees to be "eating their own dogfood" so to speak. That way they are more likely to encounter the same problems that we their customers do, which means bugs would get fixed faster. As such, it should not be 3 years between offers but more like 12-18 months. Further, I think the discounts should be greater than this. After all, Apple is swimming in money and it should not regard its employees as a revenue source. It should want them all to own current Apple products and use them and be testers.
IDEA:
Perhaps Apple could offer a greater deal where an employee gets $1K annually towards Apple products WITH THE PROVISO that they must be able to present the item on 24 hours notice to prove they've not sold it off to someone. Encourage them to use it and test the hardware and software in everyday usage. They'd also have to submit at least one bug report or feature request every quarter. THIS is what I'd expect from an industry leader who is doing so amazingly well.
Looks like quite an improvement from Taco Towers
Taco Towers