Finally, an analyst calling it right!
Somw late night thoughts on Apple....two weeks ago I wanted to get an IBook. I called Frey's electronics in Burbank, an enormous warehouse-like store. They were out, and waiting on a shipment. The wait was a couple of weeks. The only store that had the IBook was a small store in Santa Monica called Personal Support. This is L.A.- an IBook shouldn't be difficult to find, but that was my experience. Is lack of inventory a factor in the sales slowdown- if so, isn't this more of a positive, as the problem is on meeting supply, not withering demand? BTW, I love my IBook. LOVE it. I'm indifferent at best about the big Dell desktop I broke down and bought last year, after debating long and hard between it and a new Mac. For the price,the Dell seemed to be a much better value- coupled with the better availability of software for the P.C. The Mac products are really beautiful, and a pleasure to use- but setting the price points so high I think is a bit of a turn off. I don't want to pay more for a computer product because it's "cool"- now I'm feeling marketed to. Also, I honestly didn't want a computer in that neon color palatte. I think sales will vastly improve with the latest color improvements (Graphite,Snow, Sage)-the neon colors weren't very seemly for offices or anyone over 25- very teen-age and nichey. Conceptually, the colors concept was fantastic- but kind of like couture, it needed to be translated into something more wearable for the masses. Mac has always had a populist appeal- computers by and for the people. So now, let's get an apple in every pot, to paraphrase FDR- you know? I think their marketing and adv. and product design is genius, but now, make the price competitive with PC counterpart. Consumers look at speed and features and memory and compare those capacitites across the board- the mark-up "because it's a Mac" is/has turned customers away. Also, it's tough to compete with 0% financing,which is what Dell is offering right now ( I heard)- I looked at the Apple store online and saw I could finance the IBook through them for an interest rate of around 14%, which is too high. This shouldn't be a profit center for them- get those Macs to the people! So, my two cents is, get them available, get the price down, and offer cheap or free financing- if they did I'd buy another right now! I do think the $799 IMac is going to be a really hot seller this Christmas, IMO. Finally, I would not bet against Steve Jobs. He's a brilliant man, a revolutionary thinker, and Apple is a crusade for him. He will keep reinventing the personal computer and creating markets as he has done in the past, IMO. |
