From the WSJ:
Apple Inc. on Wednesday revamped its entire iPod product line in time for the holidays, slashing the price of its $599 high-end iPhone by $200 in the process -- a move that worried investors as a possible sign of weak sales of the new Apple cellphone. In an interview, Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained the reasoning behind the price cut and discussed the iPod Touch, a new model of Apple's entertainment gadget that will let users wirelessly access the Internet. Excerpts follow:
* * *
WSJ: Are you happy with how iPhones are selling?
Mr. Jobs: Very happy.
WSJ: Do you think you could meet your target of selling a million iPhones by the end of the month in the absence of this price cut?
Mr. Jobs: Absolutely. That's not why we're doing it. The biggest factor is that we got our own market research back and it confirmed what the third party market research had basically said. IPhone customer satisfaction is off the charts -- better than any product we've ever had. And we're thrilled with that. Another piece of data we have is that customers have voted with their wallets and overwhelmingly bought the 8 gigabyte model.
We're coming up on the holiday season. Our Mac business is really strong. We've got the best lineup of iPods we've ever had. It's time to be as aggressive as we can be. If we're not, then we have to wait another year for the next holiday season. So we made the decision to put the pedal to the medal and go for it this holiday season, to get as many people using iPhones as we can. We could have done this a little bit later, but this event is going to communicate it and position it with our other devices. It was a wonderful opportunity.
WSJ: I don't think you've ever cut prices this quickly after introducing a new product. Have you?
Mr. Jobs: We probably haven't. But we can't move the holidays. We're approaching the holidays so we're either going to do something or we're not.
Apple Inc. on Wednesday revamped its entire iPod product line in time for the holidays, slashing the price of its $599 high-end iPhone by $200 in the process -- a move that worried investors as a possible sign of weak sales of the new Apple cellphone. In an interview, Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained the reasoning behind the price cut and discussed the iPod Touch, a new model of Apple's entertainment gadget that will let users wirelessly access the Internet. Excerpts follow:
* * *
WSJ: Are you happy with how iPhones are selling?
Mr. Jobs: Very happy.
WSJ: Do you think you could meet your target of selling a million iPhones by the end of the month in the absence of this price cut?
Mr. Jobs: Absolutely. That's not why we're doing it. The biggest factor is that we got our own market research back and it confirmed what the third party market research had basically said. IPhone customer satisfaction is off the charts -- better than any product we've ever had. And we're thrilled with that. Another piece of data we have is that customers have voted with their wallets and overwhelmingly bought the 8 gigabyte model.
We're coming up on the holiday season. Our Mac business is really strong. We've got the best lineup of iPods we've ever had. It's time to be as aggressive as we can be. If we're not, then we have to wait another year for the next holiday season. So we made the decision to put the pedal to the medal and go for it this holiday season, to get as many people using iPhones as we can. We could have done this a little bit later, but this event is going to communicate it and position it with our other devices. It was a wonderful opportunity.
WSJ: I don't think you've ever cut prices this quickly after introducing a new product. Have you?
Mr. Jobs: We probably haven't. But we can't move the holidays. We're approaching the holidays so we're either going to do something or we're not.
