Paul, thanks for the informative posts. Also, every time the PowerPC speed gets bumped up, there will be upgrades from the graphics shops. Last year Apple sold a ton of computers in June with the arrival of the 8600s and 9600s. And then when the 300 mhz ones came out just 2-3 months later, sales were good once again. So if the G3s keep getting bumped up, the G4s show up, etc., we get ongoing good sales on top of big introductions like the AIO and Wall Street and on top of seasonal trends like education buying season and Christmas. And of course these computers then hit the non-North America market a month or three later and those sales bump up.
I think the PowerBooks are an ace in the hole, particularly if Apple can manage to come up with some Wintel-slaying ads and if the low-end model can hit the $2000 mark. Apple also projects that they can quickly sell 15,000 of the Japan-only subnotebook, which is very robust.
The wild card is the education spending--if Apple can show two quarters of profitability, it should help the fence sitters. And if school districts are as flush with technology grants as we've been reading, look out.
Btw, are you finding SI worth ponying up for? Hope so.
Marc |
