Article on Apple's price cuts and why they won't save the Mac

[niuniu]

I think the price cuts weren't steep enough to really boost sales, and many users aren't getting a price cut at all - in the UK it's a price increase in some cases, we have to pay around 164 dollars extra now to get a 15inch with a GT card so it might actually turn many potential buyers away from purchasing at this update..


Whole article @
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-mac-price-cuts-2009-6

On Monday, Apple reacted to weak sales by cutting Mac notebook prices by 5% to 15%. That should help drive up Mac unit sales 5% year-over-year in June, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted in a note today.

That's better than the overall 8% year-over-year June quarter unit sales decline that Wall Street expects, based on a slow April and May. And perhaps it's the bottom for the Mac business, which declined 3% year-over-year in the March quarter. But it's not enough to take the Mac business back to where it was.

Why not? Because many of the Mac growth drivers have stalled, and Apple shows no signs of addressing this. Specifically:

* Failure to launch exciting new products. (The MacBook Air was the last big hit.)
* Failure to play in the fastest growing segment of the market (netbooks).
* Weakness in core markets: Education and media/creative.
* Failure to make real inroads into the corporate world.
* Failure to build a big international business.

 

[iGary]

Apple isn't having any trouble selling computers.

This guy is getting assaulted on his blog page.

 

[niuniu]

Apple isn't having any trouble selling computers.

This guy is getting assaulted on his blog page.

Well spotted, I don't know the author, maybe he has a bias, but still I doubt he'd contrive a story about Mac's declining growth

 

[iGary]

* Failure to launch exciting new products. (The MacBook Air was the last big hit.)

If he thinks the MB Air was a "hit," he's off his rocker.

* Failure to play in the fastest growing segment of the market (netbooks).

And?

* Weakness in core markets: Education and media/creative.

According to who? Certainly isn't the case in our creative shop or any of the schools in my area.

* Failure to make real inroads into the corporate world.

OK, fair enough.

* Failure to build a big international business.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

 

[Scarlet Fever]

The product launches weren't exciting relative to what was there before. Personally, I reckon the new tech Apple is employing to make computers is pretty exciting.

 

[Melrose]

I love how people point to a decline in sales and say it's because the company is going down.

It's a bad economy, people! Apple isn't immune - and it's testament to their product's quality/desirability that they've done so well given the recession began last year.

I think the the guy's fos.

 

[Goona]

What about PC sales which are falling faster than Macs despite selling all those cheap netbooks, and the double whammy for them is their average selling price is dropping faster than Apple's due to the netbooks. Yeah Apple is doomed despite turning in record profits every quarter.

 

[niuniu]

What about PC sales which are falling faster than Macs despite selling all those cheap netbooks, and the double whammy for them is their average selling price is dropping faster than Apple's due to the netbooks. Yeah Apple is doomed despite turning in record profits every quarter.

Wasn't aware of that, after I read the article I had the impression that Apple's decline in growth must have been relatively bad even in the context of global recession, and in comparison to the PC market, which I guessed must have been doing well..

If what you're saying holds up, then the article lacks a lot of credibility..

 

[Goona]

Wasn't aware of that, after I read the article I had the impression that Apple's decline in growth must have been relatively bad even in the context of global recession, and in comparison to the PC market, which I guessed must have been doing well..

If what you're saying holds up, then the article lacks a lot of credibility..

The PC industry declined 7 percent last quarter from the year before, Macs only saw a 3 percent decline. If you remember in 2008, Apple introduced the Macbook Air which made sales relatively high and last quarter no new products was introduced to give a big boost. Macs decline in sale for the first time in years and Apple is doomed, PC's decline even selling all those cheap netbooks and we don't hear all this about PC's been doomed. If Apple releases a tablet like some are saying running the iphone OS how is that going to improve Mac units?

 

[Consultant]

Netbooks are fail. No profit. "Good" for pc makers
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/02/16/netbooks-killing-off-sickly-windows-pc-sales/

Since the start of Apple in the 1980s, Apple has NEVER EVER about the corporate market. Nothing has changed. Read up on any documentary on Apple and see what their target market is.

... the article lacks a lot of credibility..

Of course, the writer is just someone who has sour grapes syndrome.

 

[bruinsrme]

What was, if any, the excitment of the latest round of laptop announcements?
The single option card reader or the deletion of the express card.

I have been eyeing an MBP and really hoping Apple would give mea hardware rich reaso to upgrade. But they haven't

 

[liptonlover]

Everybody already pointed out everything I was gonna say...

Pretty much the article is BS. Done.

Nate

 

[Goona]

What was, if any, the excitment of the latest round of laptop announcements?
The single option card reader or the deletion of the express card.

I have been eyeing an MBP and really hoping Apple would give mea hardware rich reaso to upgrade. But they haven't

Errrrrrrm cheaper prices, people have been calling for this and they delivered.

 

[patrick0brien]

Since when did the Mac need saving? To me that's the test that needs to be passed, and that article fails.

 

[Shivetya]

Apple isn't having any trouble selling computers.

This guy is getting assaulted on his blog page.

What did you expect? Fanbois don't like facts.

The observation is based on published sales data. They are missing out on two major markets, netbooks and corporate. Corporate alone makes sales of Dell dwarf Apple. That is a lot of money to be ignoring.


Docking station would go a long way to helping get them in the corporate

 

[Goona]

What did you expect? Fanbois don't like facts.

The observation is based on published sales data. They are missing out on two major markets, netbooks and corporate. Corporate alone makes sales of Dell dwarf Apple. That is a lot of money to be ignoring.


Docking station would go a long way to helping get them in the corporate

Does that also explain why Dell's sales are dropping? Don't they have the corporate market tied up?

 

[patrick0brien]

What did you expect? Fanbois don't like facts.

The observation is based on published sales data. They are missing out on two major markets, netbooks and corporate. Corporate alone makes sales of Dell dwarf Apple. That is a lot of money to be ignoring.


Docking station would go a long way to helping get them in the corporate

-Shivetya

Now, you see you've stumbled upon something I've always found a little dubious when reporting Market share, and the very reason I feel it has little real weight.

When we talk Market share, what Market? Doe's Apple compete in Enterprise? According to those who's articles it is conventient for, they do - and it is pointed out Apple has a very low share. Then another pundit turns around and says "Apple doesn't go after Enterprise enough".

This is all to say nothing of the POS systems out there.

Food for thought.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Why pay attention to flame bait?

I saw this article and the just moved on. It gets to the point where you may as well see a headline that says

"incendiary comments regarding Apple inside please come flame us so that our advertisers like our page hits"

No you will not stroke my anger for financial reward. Apple will eventually fail like all companies do but no pissant cut rate writer is going to accurately predict it.

 

[Babybandit]

I'm quite interested in what they meant in terms of a poor education segment.

As far as I know, universities are flooded with Macs. At least more Apple computers than other branded computers.

Secondly, their segment is growing to primary and secondary schools internationally. For example, in Hong Kong, there's 8 all Mac schools and growing.

If that's not education penetration, I don't know what is. Sure, there are many All Dell/HP schools, but for a non-market leader, it's a lot.

These analyst are what's causing the economy to fall (actually... not really... haha)

 

[Decrepit]

Why pay attention to flame bait?

I saw this article and the just moved on. It gets to the point where you may as well see a headline that says

"incendiary comments regarding Apple inside please come flame us so that our advertisers like our page hits"

No you will not stroke my anger for financial reward. Apple will eventually fail like all companies do but no pissant cut rate writer is going to accurately predict it.

Glad somebody understands how this works.

Next thing BusinessInsider will do is post something saying that the Nintendo is dead and that Microsoft will be buying them or something.

A million dorks will scream in agony and drive their hitcount through the roof.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

iGary SHUT UP. Clearly a company that has $20 Billion in Reserves in this economy is struggling.

 

[uberamd]

I'm quite interested in what they meant in terms of a poor education segment.

As far as I know, universities are flooded with Macs. At least more Apple computers than other branded computers.

Mac's are ALL over my college campus. I see 1 Mac for every PC, sometimes more Mac's. Mostly Macbooks. I have seen no more than 3 netbooks in the last year. 3... WOW. And I go to a university with about 16,000 students.

 

[liptonlover]

I'm quite interested in what they meant in terms of a poor education segment.

As far as I know, universities are flooded with Macs. At least more Apple computers than other branded computers.

I second this. As a homeschooler with typical homeschool parents I'm used to having to go to colleges/universities (not that the difference matters here) and every single one has had not only a ton of students with Macs, but Mac labs. Also I've been in quite a few public and private schools, all of which have Macs in their libraries etc.

 

[anjinha]

Maybe I'm missing something but didn't Apple recently have one of their best quarters EVER?

 

[Goona]

Maybe I'm missing something but didn't Apple recently have one of their best quarters EVER?

Thats not enough for some people.