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What is apple trying to do with the secret release time
- Thread starter jaromirjagr
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Only if you factor in weight. The M11X kicks its ass all over the place.
You can get a faster than C2D i3 + better GPU and 8GB RAM for under $850
or an i5 + better GPU + 4GB RAM for $999
The Alienware is also tested better battery life than the current Air. Appearance depends on the person, and SSD/HDD depends on the need of the user, but pretending there aren't really and nice 11in competition is just wrong.
I agree. With all of the places I have been and all of the checking in buying in different parts of the world, I would most want to buy someplace like that. In addition, if you calculate out the taxes, I bet it's less money than buying in the US.
Of course it is. It keeps them abble to sell old stock up until the day new products are released with out having a warehouse of old stuff laying around.
If you don't think it's marketing then you don't know how marketing works.
But who doesn't say that when you buy a windows laptop, there isn't going to be released a better one this month too?
If you really want that latest Mac, I think you just should just wait and pay the $100 extra.
It's not Apples fault that you're moving for a couple of months..
If you really want that latest Mac, I think you just should just wait and pay the $100 extra.
It's not Apples fault that you're moving for a couple of months..
I disagree. I completely believe its a marketing strategy. What better way to get people excited about a product than to keep it a secret and built up anticipation.
There was an article about this (I can't seem to find it) talking about the psychology of it. People know Apple makes great products, so Apple announces something, keeps it secret, and then when its available for purchase all of the sudden people get excited and buy it immediately because of that excitement.
Think about it, how many times have you saw something in a store you liked and bought it on the spot? Would you buy that same something if you had weeks or months to think about it or would you have lost interest in it by that time?
By keeping the public in suspense Apple takes advantage of impulse buyers and regular consumers alike.
Come on you must be kidding me, $100 more expensive? Who cares? The Apple Store in Germany is like $600 more expensive. The store in Japan around $400. What do you think how I feel after I went abroad last week right on the day when the new Air was supposed to come out! I was so prepared to wait at the Apple Store in the morning and then head to the airport with itJust get it in China.
However, the updated MacBook Air will be delayed by approximately a month (at least half a month) in China (mainland) due to paper work in relevant agencies. For example, the updated versions of the AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsules are still unavailable in China.
Honestly, I don't think the uneducated shoppers care. They buy things when they need it and if they don't research it before they buy, I highly doubt they'll continue to follow up on the product after they have something in their hands. Most likely they won't know when new ones come out even after their purchase.
Apple has always focused on the experience more than the specs. Ultimately their goal is to sell every item they produce so it would make sense for them not to announce anything new so they can get rid of as much current stock as possible at the full retail price. There are always going to be a few hardcore/fanboi's out there wanting the latest and greatest and speculating on new products based on rumors and chip releases. However, at the end of the day, Apple is designing for the general public that wants a computer that is fast and just works - regardless of what's under the hood.
It's not a marketing strategy. It's a business strategy to maximize sales of units they're about to dump. If you think Windows machines are made obsolete in a short amount of time, you clearly haven't dealt with Apple before. Expect 1-2 revisions a year. But just like Windows machines, Macs dont become useless when new models come out. They're just lesser quality in regards to base specs and capabilities. They're also shipping the new Airs with the new OS, so until they announce a date for the OS, they're not going to announce a firm date for the Air.
Of course it's a marketing strategy.
However, we have to look at the big picture: Not everyone is a techie. In fact, most of Apple's consumer-base is hardly tech-savvy at all. The same goes for PC users. It's just the way things are.
With Apple, they wouldn't want to announce the "Macbook Air refresh occurring on ______!!!", because that would simply deter from their sales. It would make it difficult to sell current Macbook Airs, it would make it difficult to sell Macbook Pros to certain people, and it would actually worsen Apple's rather pristine image.
I will explain:
If Apple refreshes a laptop on average every 10 months (let's just say it's that), and they only announce a new laptop exactly when they release it, then to the consumer, the refresh appears to be spaced 10 months apart. However, if Apple announces a refresh a month in advance, or even two weeks in advance, that shortens the perceived time of the refresh. So in Apple's case, they don't want a consumer to perceive them as refreshing in a more rapid succession, despite the fact that it would simply be an announcement.
So they do this for these main reasons:
- To ensure the rate of their refreshes is perceived exactly as it is, instead of appearing more rapid to the consumer
- To ensure old laptops are sold out and don't go stale on the shelves; to expand on this, they have a very limited number of products. Some of the products (especially when refreshed) compete with the other products which have had more time to mature. If Apple allows a product which is not yet available for purchase to compete with another one of its products which is available for purchase, they will create conflict in their sales.
- To make it easy to sell their products to the average consumer: If someone walks into the Apple Store and asks about one product or another, they expect the Apple Geniuses to give them the best answer possible. If it is common-knowledge to everyone that a refresh is occurring, the Apple Genius will have to discuss with the consumer the benefits of waiting for that refresh. Apple can't afford to have their Apple Geniuses withholding information that they themselves have to know from the consumer (otherwise a consumer would come back and go "hey you didn't tell me about the announced refresh! you said this was my best bet! what the hell?"). So Apple's sales reps would also be rendered less effective, and they would in turn partially be wasting their time talking about upcoming releases to Apple customers.
The benefits of having consumers talking about the possibility of a refresh being on day X or day Y among each other is really irrelevant. Most people who are here talking about this kind of stuff are already set on purchasing an Apple product anyways. So it doesn't really matter that their products are further being promoted in a self-perpetuated kind of way. People who frequent sites like this, and look up rumors often, really don't constitute a large enough chunk of the market for Apple to be majorly concerned about making some attempt to further appease us; I think most of us like Apple enough anyway. And for those who don't (and could be future Apple consumers), I don't think they care much (first and foremost) about being told when a refresh will occur.
Where I'm from, the maxed-out 13" MBA (which is $1800 in the US) costs $2700. I believe it's similarly priced in the UK.
Don't forget our prices include VAT. Sales tax is added to the US price at the checkout.
In the UK the base 11" MBA is $1162 and the maxed out 13" costs $2064 without the 20% VAT. It's not as cheap as the US but nowhere near as bad as it first seems.
This isn't marketing strategy, this is how they always do it. Every corporation does this because the learned from the Osborne Effect. Buy a cheap used MacBook, use it while abroad, and then sell it upon your return.
I actually work at a very distinguished marketing firm in Florida and what they're doing isn't a "marketing" strategy.
It's a "business" strategy...to sell/get rid of as many units as possible before releasing new ones. Is it smart? Yes. But is it marketing? No.
They haven't released anything to market...all these rumors and speculation, people are getting mad at Apple for Lion/Airs not releasing last week.
And that's why whoever believes this is "marketing," they're sadly mistaken fanboys. Apple doesn't care about marketing...they care about selling whatever they can.
You may be right about this being a "business strategy" and not a "marketing strategy".
However, I still don't see what makes them fanboys even if they do think it's a marketing strategy. I have heard it being called "marketing" more often than not from people who are strongly critical to Apple and their products in the first place.
Said in other words: Up until now, I thought it was part of their marketing scheme - but that doesn't make me a freaking fanboy!
In the business press, secrecy about upcoming products is widely considered to be one of Apple's greatest marketing tools. Maybe the business press doesn't understand what "marketing" is - that's totally possible. Yet, I have read several articles like these over the years which leads me to believe it's not unreasonable to consider Apple's secrecy about upcoming products to be a marketing strategy.
NY Times:
"Apple's marketing wizard has deftly used speculation about his next commercial move as an essential component of each new product introduction." "[Jobs] is a master at creating the mystique," said Regis McKenna a Silicon Valley marketing executive.
"The company's customers spend countless hours chattering about whether the company's next new portable computer will include the G5 chip or if an Apple cellphone or media center is just over the horizon."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/21/t...=1d0d7c80991f571f&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
Business Week:
"Cupertino (Calif.)-based Apple shrouds its products in secrecy to build marketing mystique" - Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2010/tc20100318_833402.htm
The CMO Site:
"Apple is the opposite of transparent. Its marketing strategy is inspired by Willy Wonka. And it all works brilliantly for Apple."
http://www.thecmosite.com/author.asp?section_id=1137&doc_id=202370
etc, etc, etc....
LeBron James' secrecy with were he was going as a free agent is the same exact thing Apple does with their product.
He knew where he was going...but didn't say anything and created a lot of buzz.
Apple knows what they're doing...but hasn't said anything to create a lot of buzz.
When the decision was made...only the people in Miami were happy...but everyone else (even if LeBron wasn't considering their team) now hates LeBron for turning everything into a spectacle.
The only people that are happy with what Apple does are the fanboys.
There's a reason PC still dominates the market...Sure, Apple does great with stocks etc, etc, etc...but PC DOMINATES the computer industry.
I love my iMac and soon to be Air...but when Apple can't put a damn release date on Lion...that's just Apple being Apple...and I don't see how that's Marketing???
(It's basically them not being able to put a release date in solid stone, which shows they probably are dealing with more delays and problems viewable to the consumer since Steve is on his way out.)
That last part in parenthesis is just a guess...but up until them my post speaks truth man.
I think the question comes down to is "to create a lot of buzz" a marketing activity. While some people consider buzz creation to be marketing, you do not. You agree that Apple hasn't said anything in order to create a lot of buzz. The only difference is that you don't consider buzz-creation to be marketing while some other readers here as well as other business writers do.
Why so secret?
If Apple came out and publicly announced that new Macbook Airs would be available in 6 weeks, the current model Macbook Airs would sit on the shelves, unsold. They have inventory to move. They keep hush-hush until they are ready to release new product.
If Apple came out and publicly announced that new Macbook Airs would be available in 6 weeks, the current model Macbook Airs would sit on the shelves, unsold. They have inventory to move. They keep hush-hush until they are ready to release new product.
The Dark Knight Rises isn't coming out for a year...That 1 minute preview in Potter creates a positive "that looks b@d@ss" buzz.
Apple creates "what are they doing" buzz...Completely different.
People want to buy tickets and watch The Dark Knight Rises...People just want to know what Apple is doing. (That doesn't mean BUY what Apple is selling)
It's completely different.
Which reconfirms that it isn't a "marketing" strategy...but a "business" strategy.