Mac Pro Pricing theory

[YoYoMa]

So we all know that the prices for the processors is completely out of line with how much they really cost Apple. Why would they do this?
Well, my theory is it's in response to Clovertown's future release and not wanting to have to change the price structure too much.
Clovertown might actually be worth the $800 over the 3.0ghz model that will prob take the 2.66ghz woodcrest spot when its released. This is very unlike the current pay $800 for a .33ghz boost. Then knock off $300 more and you go to 2.66ghz.

To summarize, once Clovertowns released prices will be
2.66 quad woodcrest $2199
3,0 quad woodcrest $2499
2.66 octo clovertown $3299

Now these prices make a bit more sense.

 

[quruli]

So we all know that the prices for the processors is completely out of line with how much they really cost Apple. Why would they do this?
Well, my theory is it's in response to Clovertown's future release and not wanting to have to change the price structure too much.
Clovertown might actually be worth the $800 over the 3.0ghz model that will prob take the 2.66ghz woodcrest spot when its released. This is very unlike the current pay $800 for a .33mhz boost. Then knock off $300 more and you go to 2.66ghz.

To summarize, once Clovertowns released prices will be
2.66 quad woodcrest $2199
3,0 quad woodcrest $2499
2.66 octo clovertown $3299

Now these prices make a bit more sense.

I don't think Clovertown is going to drive down prices on the Woodcrests.

Another thing, you are paying $800 for a 330Mhz boost accross 4 cores, not .33Mhz.

 

[Trekkie]

I don't think Clovertown is going to drive down prices on the Woodcrests.

I agree. Think of how much Intel charges for their 'MP' line of processors. They have to be thinking about the fact that now you can get 8 engines in what used to be two and that not many people are going to find the need for a four socket system with four engines per socket, even servers.

So I would bet they'd want to charge a bit more for the Clovertown to keep their profit coming in.

 

[YoYoMa]

What really? You guys think prices will remain the same and Clovertown is going to cost even more than the $3299 3.0ghz Woodcrest? I definitely disagree with that. That $800 price for .34ghz is very overpriced and there is no way that they are going to price Clovertown above that. I think that when Clovertown is released we will see why they made the price structure in such an outlandish fashion.

 

[Chone]

The 800$ price premium is because its the top of the line processor and they are cherry-picked cores, look at the price difference between the E6600 and the X6800, not as big but that explains why the drop to 2.0ghz is only -$200 but the upgrade to 3.0ghz is a whopping +$800.

Processor pricing has always been the same, they start at around 150-200 and end at 1000$ making small incremental pricejumps as the processors get better and a dramatic jump in price from the 2nd best processor to the best processor, the performance difference however is not as dramatic.

 

[dex22]

It seems pretty clear that Apple has set a price point it won't change. It'll shift what processor you'll get for that $2499, but it doesn't look like the $2499 itself will change.

 

[kylos]

Yoyoma is right about the discrepancy in Apple's pricing on the woodcrests. A pair of 2.0's costs just under $800 on newegg, a pair of 2.66's costs $1500, and a set of 3.0's will cost around $1800.

Apple charges $300 difference between the 2.0 and 2.66 and $800 difference between the 2.66 and 3.0. Which is kinda odd, but I think it can be reasonably explained that Apple is expecting most people to upgrade to get the absolute fastest machine and is offering the 2.66 at such a steal to show that they can price a machine very competitively.

 

[steve_hill4]

When you factor in the prices that Apple will be apying for the chips too, it makes more sense to encourage people to go for either the 2.66 or 3.0GHz models. How many would be willing to drop 4x0.66GHz to save a few hundred bucks? Therefore Apple buy in multitudes more of the other two speed chips and probably get the 2.66GHz at little more than they also buy the 2.0GHz at.

So newegg is offering a $700 and $300 difference and Apple $300 and $800 respectively. Assuming newegg prices, Apple could be buying in at $200 and $300 respectively, meaning good profits on the standard config, but great deals on the top end machine.

If anything, they'd want to keep something like this to encourage people to buy the higher speed machines and concentrate their chip buying in one area. if Clovertown was added, perhaps it would be wiser to put it at an even higher end.

 

[bbrosemer]

THe 2.66 could run at 3.0Ghz but not as stable that is all that the 3.0 GHz chips are, are a better build quality.

 

[Senbei]

Apple charges a "tax" when either downgrading and upgrading from the Xeon 5150 (they under "refund" the downgrade and charge more to get 3GHz making extra money either way). The 5150 is really the best bang for the buck in that regards. Additionally, since we're determining this based on the retail price that places like newegg charges (which is much higher than the volume pricing Apple and Dell pays), we really don't know what the actual price difference is for Apple except that there is a significant margin built in to the CTO pricing.

 

[Mr. Mister]

Speaking of odd CTO prices, if you downgrade your 250GB HD to a 160GB one, you save around $70.

On Newegg.com, a 250GB SATA HD costs $70.

That's right, if you choose the 160GB one over the 250GB one, you can buy a brand-new 250GB HD and have both a 250 and a 160 for the price you would have been paying for just the 250.

Unfortunately, I saw this after I placed my order, and don't want to cancel and thereby push the damned thing back any further.

 

[YoYoMa]

I did notice that actually and I configured my Mac Pro accordingly, however, it changed my ship date from "within 24 hours" to "three to five days."

 

[Mr. Mister]

Yeah, anything changed makes it that. But I mean, if you've already spec'd it with an airport card or a different processor speed, might as well.