Quote:
Originally Posted by Faterson
A friend of mine recently got burned by switching from Windows to Mac OS, having bought a new MacBook Pro. He then wrote me a long email, detailing his frustrations. He had been impressed by iPad and iPhone so much he thought he'd be equally impressed by Mac OS. It didn't happen, and he says he prefers Windows in performing practically all the tasks he needs to get done. He intends to give his MacBook away to his wife, and return to Windows.
On the other hand, Helen, you're right that it's rare for folks to regret their Apple purchase, especially an iDevice. I am myself blown away by how well both iPad 1 and iPhone 4 still perform for me to this day, although they're both over 3 years old now. They practically still perform like they always have for me. The quality of Apple's hardware is amazing. My ancient iPad 1 still has better battery life today than my brand-new Nexus 7! 
The problem, though, is if you price your products out of the range of what a great majority of users can reasonably afford. Superior hardware quality will then likely no longer be enough to rescue your brand from niche status. |
You are right, I was totally forgetting about the Apple desktops and tablets. And I did have an Apple II way back when (1978?) which I happily played Wizardry and Lord British Games on. Mea culpa.
My feeling is that Apple has little to gain by lowering their prices. A significant lowering would require a more significant increase in the number of product sold to break even with what they make now. If they reduce the Mini by 25% would they sell 25% more? Perhaps. But their actual profit would be lower as they would have to manufacture more and ship more and repair more etc.
Say 1 Ipad mini at 499 gives them $200 profit and they spend $299 on parts, labour, sales commission advertising etc. Selling 4 at $499 gives them $800 profit (with my made up figures) Selling 5 at 374.25 gives them $625 profit. Selling 6 gives them $745.50 profit. They would have to sell 7 or 75% more units to come out ahead. Selling them at lower prices just compounds this. Basically if they lowered their profit margin from whatever it is now, say from $200 a unit to $20 a unit, the would have to sell 10 times as many units.
And they would lose a few sales from those that buy Apple because they perceive the most expensive product as the best.
I'm not saying the price shouldn't come down, but I think it would be a stupid move financially on Apple's part at this point in time.
Helen