Why no update to the Mac Pro? Here are some numbers (and pictures)

[minifridge1138]

I hope I'm not violating any forum rules, but here is an article.

I have no personal or financial ties to the page or the author. I just found it interesting.

http://www.wingsofreason.com/2012/07/26/apple-revenue-breakdown-july-quarters-2012-edition/
(please forgive me if I shouldn't have posted the actual URL. I'd like to cite my source AND help out the person that did the hard work).

It compares revenue across Apple products/services from 2006 to 2012 (REVENUE not profit).

The summary is that in 2006 iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad sales) accounted for 34.2% of revenue.
Non-iDevices (laptops, desktops, software, monitors, keyboards, everything else) made up 65.7%. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

Jump to 2012 and 75.6% of revenue is from iDevices.
And 24.4% of revenue is from everything else. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

In the more detailed graph, it shows desktops (iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro) are 3.7% of revenue. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

I'm not saying that I agree with or like the lack of attention we are getting, but I understand it.

Even if the Mac Pro accounted for all of the desktop sales AND you could introduce a model that would double sales AND all other sales remained stagnant, then you'd be at less than 7.5% of revenue.

It looks like Apple is neglecting the Mac Pro because the market is neglecting the Mac Pro (there just aren't enough of us!).

 

[petsounds]

This is not new news. We all know that the Mac Pro carries a comparatively small amount of revenue for Apple.

But it is a very important one. Pro audio, pro video, pro post-production, pro-3D. Walking away from these creative industries would be a very stupid move. If they do that, they lose their cachet as a creative-focused company that Steve Jobs spent a lot of time cultivating. They also lose being in the mix of professional feedback on their pro software...software which inevitably trickles down to their consumer applications.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

Yea, this has been discussed many times, quite sad.. but that is how business works... I just hope they don't totally discontinue it... fingers crossed..

 

[minifridge1138]

I wasnt trying to say it was new news.
We've all known for a while that Mac Pro sales were a small piece of the apple pie.

This was just the first time that u saw actual numbers and how they have changed over time.

 

[PowerPCMacMan]

The Mac Pro only plays a small niche in Apple's total sales. That said, consider that Apple probably sells about 70,000 Mac Pros a year, compared to everything else.

Whatever Tim said in that email for 2013 may or may not be a Mac Pro, but something "wonderful" and that could be something of a hybrid between the Mac Pro and the iMac, or also called: iMac Pro.

Again, speculation as we don't know what will be next year.

 

[andiwm2003]

The Mac Pro only plays a small niche in Apple's total sales. That said, consider that Apple probably sells about 70,000 Mac Pros a year, compared to everything else.

............................

It's sad if companies consider a $100.000.000+ market as too small to bother. I hope apple recognizes the strategic value of the MacPro. They didn't see a strategic value in the server business though.

 

[ixodes]

My _guess_ is that Apple may provide something after the Holidays. They are so busy with iDevices and the ramp up to the holiday selling season, I don't see time for the Mac Pro at the moment.

 

[xgman]

My _guess_ is that Apple may provide something after the Holidays. They are so busy with iDevices and the ramp up to the holiday selling season, I don't see time for the Mac Pro at the moment.

or seemingly anything else either...

 

[ixodes]

or seemingly anything else either...

Believe me I know how you feel, I am huge Apple computer enthusiast and own a Mac Pro I'd love to replace with a new one.

But as a realist that knows Apples first priority are the iDevices that bring the most profit. It really doesn't matter to them that we have to wait.

 

[NewbieCanada]

It's sad if companies consider a $100.000.000+ market as too small to bother. I hope apple recognizes the strategic value of the MacPro. They didn't see a strategic value in the server business though.

In bringing a computer to market there are certain costs that are largely fixed. Research, development, design. etc.

It's a lot easier to justify those costs for something that sells millions of units than it is for something that sells in the tens of thousands.

McDonald's has 33,500 restaurants worldwide. If they introduce a new menu item that has annual sales of $100,000,000 should they keep it? No, that means they're selling 2 a day per outlet.

There are, of course, other reasons for keeping the Mac Pro, but profit isn't one of them. $100 million is more money than you or I will ever see, but it's an irrelevance to Apple.

 

[Superfly503`]

An interesting comparison is the Corvette and General Motors. In 2011, GM sold 2,503,820 cars and trucks. Corvettes accounted for 13,164 of those, or .5%. And considering the Corvette itself, I'd bet the margin is much smaller than most of their vehicles. Wouldn't be surprised if they lose money on it. Still, it's a very important part of the Chevrolet brand, and they'd be insane to discontinue it.

 

[Topper]

My _guess_ is that Apple may provide something after the Holidays. They are so busy with iDevices and the ramp up to the holiday selling season, I don't see time for the Mac Pro at the moment.

I am looking forward to the day when Apple has enough money to provide staffing for the Mac Pro.

 

[mBox]

An interesting comparison is the Corvette and General Motors. In 2011, GM sold 2,503,820 cars and trucks. Corvettes accounted for 13,164 of those, or .5%. And considering the Corvette itself, I'd bet the margin is much smaller than most of their vehicles. Wouldn't be surprised if they lose money on it. Still, it's a very important part of the Chevrolet brand, and they'd be insane to discontinue it.

Well now your comparing Apples to Corvette's
Sorry I couldn't resist
With that said, the Corvette has a deep rich history unlike the Mac Pro.
Now if we are talking the Apple Personal Computer being killed off then we have a problem.
I for one did my best the last two years.
I personally specd and purchased (for company) a dozen Mac Pro's.
Ill do it again even if doesnt update next year

 

[Superfly503`]

With that said, the Corvette has a deep rich history unlike the Mac Pro.

Say what? Ever since the Macintosh II came out in 1987, a premium desktop machine was the flagship of the brand until the iMac came out.

 

[mBox]

Say what? Ever since the Macintosh II came out in 1987, a premium desktop machine was the flagship of the brand until the iMac came out.

Please read my comment, I said Mac Pro not the Personal Computer aka Apple II, PowerMac, LCIII, etc....
Mac Pro as in....nothing quite like it but again not as deep in history as the actual Personal Computer line.
Dont get me wrong, Im a firm believe that the Mac Pro is the best looking system ever built by Apple.
Ive had Quadras, PowerMac6100/8100 and 8400 as well as the G4s.
To me nothing beats that MP case
Back to work now

 

[goMac]

Apple has repeatedly said they ignore market trends, and Cook said it specifically about the Mac Pro during the WWDC time period.

I think whatever they are doing, they think they can improve on the Mac Pro's design. Whether those are changes that people will be unhappy with (like FCPX) is yet to be seen, but I don't think this is because they're planning on scraping the line, and possibly more to do with they just have a different vision for the product.

 

[ivoruest]

I hope I'm not violating any forum rules, but here is an article.

I have no personal or financial ties to the page or the author. I just found it interesting.

http://www.wingsofreason.com/2012/07/26/apple-revenue-breakdown-july-quarters-2012-edition/
(please forgive me if I shouldn't have posted the actual URL. I'd like to cite my source AND help out the person that did the hard work).

It compares revenue across Apple products/services from 2006 to 2012 (REVENUE not profit).

The summary is that in 2006 iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad sales) accounted for 34.2% of revenue.
Non-iDevices (laptops, desktops, software, monitors, keyboards, everything else) made up 65.7%. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

Jump to 2012 and 75.6% of revenue is from iDevices.
And 24.4% of revenue is from everything else. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

In the more detailed graph, it shows desktops (iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro) are 3.7% of revenue. Some percentage of that is the Mac Pro.

I'm not saying that I agree with or like the lack of attention we are getting, but I understand it.

Even if the Mac Pro accounted for all of the desktop sales AND you could introduce a model that would double sales AND all other sales remained stagnant, then you'd be at less than 7.5% of revenue.

It looks like Apple is neglecting the Mac Pro because the market is neglecting the Mac Pro (there just aren't enough of us!).

Moving away from the Mac Pro is not a good idea. For a lot of programers and creative people thats their machine that they use for programing apps or making creative stuff for the Mac. It would be counter beneficial to Apple because I'm sure it will lose some programing force, which is bad.

 

[Superfly503`]

Please read my comment, I said Mac Pro not the Personal Computer aka Apple II, PowerMac, LCIII, etc....
Mac Pro as in....nothing quite like it but again not as deep in history as the actual Personal Computer line.
Dont get me wrong, Im a firm believe that the Mac Pro is the best looking system ever built by Apple.
Ive had Quadras, PowerMac6100/8100 and 8400 as well as the G4s.
To me nothing beats that MP case
Back to work now

I read your comment, I'm just saying that whatever the particular name of the era, Apple has been producing a high-end desktop workstation since 1987. I was only responding to your comment about a "deep, rich history," which the Mac Pro has. It wasn't always called a Mac Pro, but it served the same purpose in the product lineup. The 1968 vette is nothing like the 2012 vette, but they share the same heritage. Same as, say, a Quadra 840 AV and a Mac Pro 4.1 or whatever. I'm not talking about the particular chip set or case design (well, kind of case design in that it's a big desktop machine), but function to the user as well as the product lineup.

 

[ixodes]

I am looking forward to the day when Apple has enough money to provide staffing for the Mac Pro.

Rumor has it, they've been saving for a few years now.

Latest estimate is that Apple may have the funds to continue with the Mac Pro sometime mid 2014.

Until then I will just have to remind myself this is the "little company from Cupertino".

Oh... by the way? Your humor was stellar

----------

To me nothing beats that MP case

I agree, the only thing that looks better than a Mac Pro beside my desk, is TWO Mac Pros ...

 

[mBox]

..I agree, the only thing that looks better than a Mac Pro beside my desk, is TWO Mac Pros ...

how about 4 I can send a pic but it has to wait till tomorrow
all kidding aside, workstations havent changed much for me in the last 5 years.
and thats on both sides Mac and PC.
Our most current is a Dell T3500 and a BOXX 8400s both with Quadro 5000 cards for Maya.
Macs the same but with Quadro 4000s and a ton of 5870/5770.
They have not sped up these puppies (example the HP Z820) to the point of double the speed as far as rendering in Maya for me so there is no need to update any PCs to date.
Mac Pro have been the same for so long, it just works and thats fine with me

 

[fastlanephil]

The Mac Pro only plays a small niche in Apple's total sales. That said, consider that Apple probably sells about 70,000 Mac Pros a year, compared to everything else.

Whatever Tim said in that email for 2013 may or may not be a Mac Pro, but something "wonderful" and that could be something of a hybrid between the Mac Pro and the iMac, or also called: iMac Pro.

Again, speculation as we don't know what will be next year.

Since they dropped the word Mac from OSX Apple might also drop the word Mac from it's hardware starting with new desktops or what ever is released.

 

[ActionableMango]

Even if the Mac Pro accounted for all of the desktop sales AND you could introduce a model that would double sales AND all other sales remained stagnant, then you'd be at less than 7.5% of revenue.

Based on last quarter, 7.5% would be over $10 billion a year. That's not something people ignore.

They clearly have a Macintosh division and those people are working on Macs.

 

[Liquidstate]

Reading the Mac Pro tea leaves...

What do we know for sure? We know Apple isn't dropping the Mac Pro (or something else for the pro users) because Tim Cook realized there was a lot of frustration and decided to make a statement. We know it's coming sometime next year (but we don't know if he meant calendar year or fiscal year). We know that whatever it is, it's not going to be a conventional Mac Pro upgrade, because they could have done that several times since the last upgrade.

We also know there have been delays on Intel's releases and adequate supply.

And as I remember it being posted here, Intel has yet to support both Thunderbolt and USB3 on high end components.

As I look at the Apple tea leaves (although I realize they don't use leaves in apple tea), it looks to me like they have a new Mac Pro design concept but they don't have the high end components to finish it off.

And maybe that means Intel is also placing a lower priority on the design and manufacturing of high end components for the same reasons that have been posted here many times.

Then the question is, how long has Apple had a new Mac Pro concept, and how long have they been waiting for whatever they need to complete the design?

That might help explain Tim Cook's statement. Maybe Apple finally got a reasonably accurate ship date for whatever they're waiting for so they could say it's coming next year.

Oh wait, I bumped the teacup. I guess that's it for now.

 

[goMac]

I predict whatever Apple does, half the people here will really like it, and half the people here will really hate it.

 

[Darien Red Sox]

We also know there have been delays on Intel's releases and adequate supply.

And as I remember it being posted here, Intel has yet to support both Thunderbolt and USB3 on high end components.

As I look at the Apple tea leaves (although I realize they don't use leaves in apple tea), it looks to me like they have a new Mac Pro design concept but they don't have the high end components to finish it off.

And maybe that means Intel is also placing a lower priority on the design and manufacturing of high end components for the same reasons that have been posted here many times.

Then the question is, how long has Apple had a new Mac Pro concept, and how long have they been waiting for whatever they need to complete the design?

Sounds just like things sounded before the PowerPC to Intel transition, IBM would not build Apple what they wanted so they jumped ship to Intel. Apple has switched before and may not be afraid to switch again if Intel dose not deliver and someone else can.