Re-thinking the timing of Apple's Macworld Shows
Apple obviously about a year ago realized that waiting for every big show for a speed bump was not the wisest thing to do and wasn't good for sales. That is probably why we have had silent Power Mac, iBook and Powerbook upgrades. Taking Apple's latest earnings warning into account,let's look at the current timing of Apple's Macworld shows.
MWSF: In my opinion of the two this is the one that is the most poorly timed. Apple would be better off having this show at the end of November or the first week of December. That way whatever is announced is gobbled up during the holiday shopping season. This is especially important with the retail stores. Brand new iPod a month before the holidays? Great timing. A new iPod two weeks AFTER the holidays? Not too wise.
MWNY: this one would be better off a little earlier just for the school reasons. Maybe June.
What Apple suffers the most is that NO ONE is buying Power Macs right now cause they KNOW that there are new ones coming. There are some companies buying a lot of them right now cause Apple has so many incentives.
It seems that Apple is moving in the right direction with the silent upgrades they have been doing but if you are going to have people wait and then buy after a show, you are better off having them buy in December than January. It still hits Apple's books either way but I think they will see increased sales if it is before the holiday's than after.
Your thoughts?
MWSF: In my opinion of the two this is the one that is the most poorly timed. Apple would be better off having this show at the end of November or the first week of December. That way whatever is announced is gobbled up during the holiday shopping season. This is especially important with the retail stores. Brand new iPod a month before the holidays? Great timing. A new iPod two weeks AFTER the holidays? Not too wise.
MWNY: this one would be better off a little earlier just for the school reasons. Maybe June.
What Apple suffers the most is that NO ONE is buying Power Macs right now cause they KNOW that there are new ones coming. There are some companies buying a lot of them right now cause Apple has so many incentives.
It seems that Apple is moving in the right direction with the silent upgrades they have been doing but if you are going to have people wait and then buy after a show, you are better off having them buy in December than January. It still hits Apple's books either way but I think they will see increased sales if it is before the holiday's than after.
Your thoughts?
Comments
<strong>Apple obviously about a year ago realized that waiting for every big show for a speed bump was not the wisest thing to do and wasn't good for sales. That is probably why we have had silent Power Mac, iBook and Powerbook upgrades. Taking Apple's latest earnings warning into account,let's look at the current timing of Apple's Macworld shows.
MWSF: In my opinion of the two this is the one that is the most poorly timed. Apple would be better off having this show at the end of November or the first week of December. That way whatever is announced is gobbled up during the holiday shopping season. This is especially important with the retail stores. Brand new iPod a month before the holidays? Great timing. A new iPod two weeks AFTER the holidays? Not too wise.
MWNY: this one would be better off a little earlier just for the school reasons. Maybe June.
What Apple suffers the most is that NO ONE is buying Power Macs right now cause they KNOW that there are new ones coming. There are some companies buying a lot of them right now cause Apple has so many incentives.
It seems that Apple is moving in the right direction with the silent upgrades they have been doing but if you are going to have people wait and then buy after a show, you are better off having them buy in December than January. It still hits Apple's books either way but I think they will see increased sales if it is before the holiday's than after.
Your thoughts?</strong><hr></blockquote>
FYI - From what I understand... this is not a decision that Apple makes... Apple is just an ATTENDEE to this expo. It is run and operated by MacWorld (Hence, the name)... not Apple. The timing of the shows has NOTHING to do with Apple... they choose whether or not to attend, keynote, release any new software or hardware or make any announcements on thier own.
S.J. has made it clear in the past that he does not want these "Expos" to be the only or even "primary" means of introducing new stuff... hence the iPod, Xserve... (any others...? Help me out here)
So... they have the power to change the way they introduce things... but truth-be-told... it's a great means, since you have a captive audience at your disposal.
There is no reason that Apple's products announced in late July should not be selling well for the holiday season. it takes a few weeks to ship them out and then it's already september. shelf life of 4 months is really good.
then after all those get eaten up they revamp the line in january so that they can get back to July
Edit: I think they're completely in the wrong here, just as I think their laid-back advertising is weak and backwards. But what do I know?
[ 06-28-2002: Message edited by: AllenChristopher ]</p>
Also, regarding the scheduling of major releases, often (every time?) it feels like they announce their stuff way too soon. It's nice, business-wise, not to have inventory, but it's bad, business-wise, not to fill orders for weeks or months. I think they announce, then cross their fingers and pray that no one will want what they're offering until they've figured out how they're going to produce the things.