09/15/2008, 1:20pm, EDT
Monday, September 15thNew MacBooks already shipping out?
Redesigned MacBooks may already be enroute to stores, claims an analyst from Citigroup. Richard Garner cites "field checks," which suggest that the shipment process has begun. Garner says he has also learned of the computers' main features, which should include a "very thin" aluminum casing, LED backlighting, and an "aggressive entry-level price point." Some analysts have suggested that the cheapest MacBook could drop in cost to $999.
When new MacBooks might go on sale is unknown, but a previous report has pointed to October 14th. An announcement was originally expected by many to have come on September 9th, but Apple does not typically mix its September iPod presentations with information on Macs.
Garner is meanwhile optimistic about results for Apple's September quarter, predicting revenue of $8.3 billion, above The Street's estimate of $8.1 billion. EPS is likewise expected to be $1.20 rather than $1.11. The company's gross margins may also be better than anticipated, due to harsh drops in prices for DRAM, NAND and flat-panel displays. iPod giveaways and price cuts have previously been forecast as diminishing Apple profits.
Filed under: Investor, computers, industry, Apple
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OMG!
Talk about aggressive! $1000 for a MacBook! Wow, that'll make those people looking at $500 WinPC laptops take a second look! Oh, wait, no it won't.
Sorry, $999 isn't "aggressive". Aggressive would be a LOT cheaper.
Cheap or Crap?? :-)
Hmmm, Hello Testudo,
I say cheap or crap. I have seen some of these super cheap laptops. Low ram, cheap housings, and Vista basic. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. :-)
Buy two, get one free. Just throw them away when they crash!! :-) Just a thought. LOL
As they say in the industry, Price, Quality, schedule. Pick two. LOL
Just a thought.
en
Pricing-
Testudo is right- the price of the Porsche has to drop- in case no one noticed, money is tight, banks are failing and while Apple has the chance to steal market share from Vista they need to strike.
The bottom of the line should be $700 tops- and the new top end machines should have bluray burners.
Apple should also start shipping OSX for PC for $249 and put M$ out of their misery.
Re: cheap or crap
I say cheap or crap. I have seen some of these super cheap laptops. Low ram, cheap housings, and Vista basic. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. :-)
Doesn't stop people from picking them up. In fact, pick up one, and in 6 months, buy another for the same or cheaper. You're still saving money!
My sister got a nice cheap Dell laptop for $800 (to replace her $700 4 year-old Dell desktop). Its got a 16" screen, built-in camera, 3 GB memory, Core2Duo processor, honking big hard drive. ExpressCard slot.
Its what most people need/want. You can try to explain to people that what they should do is spend $300 on a less featured Mac (but it has OS X! Don't you watch the commercials!), or that they should spend $2000 just to get back to a comparable screen size, but a lot of people will compare $2000 to $1000 and go "Screw it, I'd rather save the grand and put up with Windows!".
re: cheap
Oh, and I still stand by my argument that $999 is not an aggressive price. It is, at most, a "no, really, look at me!" price.
I must admit...
...seeing a nice shiny 17" HP laptop with many more features for $699 has me asking if paying 300% for a 17" Macbook Pro is worth the difference - and I wonder how HP can make money...
Admit?
Number 1 line up the features specs on that HP b/c I'd like to see how it stacks up.
Yes, OS X is worth more. Watch what you wish for- you want mac to be more like PC in price? Then it stops being a mac. I'm happy that my 3 year old macbook coreduo still runs like a Swiss watch. How many of those $600- HPs are getting daily use at 3 years?
Buying an $800 16" Dell instead of a $1100 13" macbook is like buying and econovan instead of a Honda Odyssey, like a 46 " DLP TV VS A 42" LCD, like a Cub cadet lawn tractor vs a John Deere. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.
Bah
People don't want anything from the PC market. Prices descended so low because because the gap between OS releases was sooo long, manufacturers had to lower prices to inspire sales. Now slumping Vista interest continues to make price the driving force to get consumers to buy. Sure at $499 why not get a pc to replace your aging one, it's definetly cheaper than repairing or upgrading components!!
I think the difference with the mac market is NEW customers make a fresh purchase on a different platform. The numbers say so. $999 is aggressive in the mac market. It's more affordable than ever to switch.
Also google "downgrade Vista laptop to XP". You'll find a ton of people buying $499 laptops then springing for a copy of XP (~$150) and either paying someone to install it and get it going or doing it themselves.......
So how many $499 happy laptop users are there out there...really?
Cheaper, Sure
Okay, say you buy a Dell laptop with workable specs for $499. Now you use it for a year. How much time do you spend fixing Windows, talking to Dell Tech Support (good luck), and complaining about Vista's bulkiness?
Also, how much do you spend on anti-virus and anti-spyware (if not enough, then modify your answer above)?
Now, replace your laptop after 2 years or so, and go through all that stuff again. I'll still be using my MacBook Pro from 2006 for the next two years. Recurring costs? A new battery every two years. No OS updates that you have to pay for in order to maintain security and usability, no anti-virus/spyware subscriptions.
If you want/need the hassle of running Windows XP or Vista, there's at least 3 good options for you: Bootcamp, Parallels, and VMWare Fusion. Granted, this ups the cost to including an OS license, but that is completely optional. Can you still choose "No OS" or "Red Hat/Ubuntu" at Dell? Nope! Windows or bust. I choose bust.
I agree with Testudo
Keep your heads in the sand, boys.
Testudo is right. $899 would have been aggressive. I know a lot of folks who are using their cheap HP's going on 3-5 years. Dells are another story.
I also know many people that aren't as turned on by OSX as we are. Some even have both Mac and PC and use their newer PC more than their older Mac.
So, if the OS was no big deal to me, I would take a 16" with Blueray over a 13" any day.
I prefer OSX and all Apple products and am fortunate to be able to afford the higher price.