clarkm@tekig4.TEK.COM (Clark Morgan) (09/14/88)
I certainly understand how upset people are by the recent price
increases. I had been considering purchasing a MAC II for quite some
time, but I kept waiting for the price to drop. Oh well :-)
I'll probably eventually wind up buying an 80386 knock off because
(Apple, listen to this) I can afford it. Mind you, I can't stand
MS-DOS, but I'd rather not be in debt for 4-5 years just to own a Mac II.
Finally, let's not lose sight of why Mac prices are so high: there
is no Mac clone market. If your product has no competition and is
popular, you can charge whatever the market will bear.
=====
These are my opinions, not my employer's.
--
Clark Morgan, Tektronix Lab Instruments Engineering (503) 627-3545
clarkm@tekig4.LEN.TEK.COM | {...,decvax,uw-beaver}!tektronix!tekig4!clarkm
US Mail: Tektronix, P.O. Box 500, DS 39-087, Beaverton, OR 97077dxjsb@dcatla.UUCP (Jack S. Brindle) (09/15/88)
With all the wailing and nashing of teeth over the price increases, noone
has given thought to two things.
1) Over the life of the Mac, prices have dropped. It is far cheaper to
buy a Plus today than it was to buy a 128K Mac on its introduction.
Secondly, it costs very little more to buy a Mac SE today than the 128K
machine cost; And you get far more power (and memory).
2) Could Apple be posturing the current machines, making way for new
products? Historically, they adjust the prices of their current
machines several weeks before new computers are announced. Looks to me
like there are now "natural" slots for a cpu between the Plus and the
SE and also between the SE and the II. Things could get interesting
real soon!
Or, their supply of DRAMs has dwindled, with the clone makers (especially IBM)
having soaked up the supply of chips. Spot market chips are far more
expensive than contract prices. Maybe they are right...
(I prefer the new cpu suggestion, myself... we will see! :-).
Jack Brindledrc@claris.UUCP (Dennis Cohen) (09/15/88)
In article <3215@tekig4.TEK.COM> clarkm@tekig4.TEK.COM (Clark Morgan) writes: >Finally, let's not lose sight of why Mac prices are so high: there >is no Mac clone market. If your product has no competition and is >popular, you can charge whatever the market will bear. > What then will explain why the price of IBM PC-ATs and, similarly, the newly announced non-microchannel PS2 Model 30 is so high? There is surely an abundance of alternatives in this market, yet IBM's prices are still right up there among the highest around -- including Apple's prices. Maybe it just has something to do with the fact that corporate MIS departments will pay more for the logo because they know it will be around for a while, whereas CloneOfTheDay might not exist past the weekend. Note also that the really entrenched clones, such as Compaq, charge significantly more than do the other knock-offs. Whether there is a real or perceived quality difference is irrelevent, as it exists and is a market force. Dennis Cohen Claris Corp. ------------ Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed above are _MINE_!
drc@claris.UUCP (Dennis Cohen) (09/15/88)
Excuse me, I meant to type Model 35 rather than Model 30. Dennis Cohen
mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (09/17/88)
>What then will explain why the price of IBM PC-ATs and, similarly, the >newly announced non-microchannel PS2 Model 30 is so high? There is surely >an abundance of alternatives in this market, yet IBM's prices are still >right up there among the highest around -- including Apple's prices. >Maybe it just has something to do with the fact that corporate MIS departments >will pay more for the logo because they know it will be around for a >while, whereas CloneOfTheDay might not exist past the weekend. Ah, but IBM's real prices, the ones the customers they WANT have to pay, are only maybe 60% of the published price. I'm not so sure, but doesn't Apple do the same?
drc@claris.UUCP (Dennis Cohen) (09/19/88)
In article <46100219@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: >Ah, but IBM's real prices, the ones the customers they WANT have to >pay, are only maybe 60% of the published price. I'm not so >sure, but doesn't Apple do the same? Yes, this is true. Consortium prices are typically between 50 and 60% of list. My understanding is that major accounts also have about a 30-40% price break (hearsay, here). Then, there is Apple's Developer program -- something IBM doesn't have. Dennis Cohen Claris Corp. ------------ Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed above are _MINE_!