Before reading my replies there is something important that apparently was not obvious enough in my posts despite my explicit comments and that I want to emphasize: I, as a potential buyer, am glad that Apple did what they did in terms of pricing. That can only benefit us as consumers. When I criticize Apple's pricing of the iPad I do it from the perspective of an eReader manufacturer such as Plastic Logic or Amazon (which I am not, just for the record, lol). Ok, lets get started!
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Originally Posted by Logseman
I don't understand how a pricing decision can be "dirty business": if the competition doesn't give added value to what the iPad can give, the competition will vanish...
Why should Apple price their iPads in higher levels? Apple aspires to be a market leader, not a follower, so it's logical that they want to win the initiative in pricing their products...
I don't see why their decision to price things as low as they want can be objected.
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When I use the adjective "dirty" I do it as of "unsporting, dirty, foul, or violating accepted standards or rules (i.e., a dirty fighter)". Precisely because Apple is crushing the accepted standards of pricing set by the market it is forcing its competitors, just as you say, to either match their offerings or perish
If you take the perspective of a manufacturer like Plastic Logic who probably took the Kindle Dx as reference for pricing (being their only potential competitor at the time) and you price your item at $650 it is still perceived as acceptable by the market standards. Now if three weeks after you make the announcement you find out that the iPad is being priced for half of what it was rumored you start feeling screwed by the big players! Again, I personally have no issue with that as a consumer (if you read my previous posts you can confirm this). However, from the manufacturer's perspective Apple's aggressive pricing was a dirty low blow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmdahler
Are you seriously trying to argue that Apple should have priced the iPad higher just to be "fair" to Plastic Logic because PL wanted to price the Que at $700? That's just ridiculous...
Apple is not just making a profit, but a hefty one, as in around 30%), that can hardly be described as "dirty business."..
Where's the illusion? The "illusion of value" lies more with the large ereaders...paying a ton of money for a device that can't do a tenth of what something like the iPad can do...
But still, none of that is Apple's fault: you seem to be suggesting that Apple should have said, "Oh, those poor guys over at Plastic Logic, their e-ink screens cost them so much that we really ought to just go ahead and price the iPad at $900 so they have a chance to sell their product."
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Hopefully you have read my reply above and realized that in not a single post I have suggested such a thing
Problem is we are all usually so self-centered we fail to take the others' perspective, and that includes not only other individuals but manufacturers and business as well
By the way if you read mgmueller's post #9 in this thread you will learn what I just did: that Apple might be taking home 5% for each iPad sold
When I say illusion of value I am referring to the fact that the iPad is a very appealing product when compared to dedicated eReaders (which is the topic of discussion) yet if you compare it to either netbooks (that Jobs criticized a lot during his keynote, yet can do more and are cheaper) or other Media tablets offerings such as Archos (who introduced today two $200, 7" and 8" models) or Notion Ink's Adam (with its amazing screen, and starting at $327) there is really no added value in buying an iPad (to make things worse they are just exporting the iPhone's OS instead of a sweet OS X version
)
then again, my comments, that apparently are unsettling for some were made from the perspective of a manufacturer, and are different from what I feel personally as a consumer. Hope this helps.