Mac sales way up, ultra-portable Mac on the way, and other thoughts
MacDailyNews.com is reporiting on a TheStreet.com article that Apple is selling Macs at a record pace. They estimate that Mac sales could beat analyst estimates by almost 400,000 units. They estimate that this could bring in an extra $600 million in revenue.They are also reporting on the much-rumored ultra-portable notebook that will weigh “less than 2 pounds” and have either a 10 or a 12 inch screen.
That’s it for the news, now the commentary! (Aren’t you excited?). First I’ll tackle the sub-notebook. It’s great that they are working on this (or at least are rumored to be) and I think demand for these ultra-portable notebooks is increasing. It must be noted here, however, that this notebook must be usable – great battery life, and an overall balance of portability and general computing power are essential. I still haven’t made up my mind about having an optical drive built-in, but knowing Apple, they will probably figure a way to get it in there. Now is where I have another minor problem with Apple: there aren’t enough notebooks in their current lineup (and won’t be enough with the ultra-portable notebook either) to cover the great range of consumers. Their only “consumer-level” offering in the notebook space is the MacBook 13″ that starts in price at around $1100. The next step up is the 15″ MacBook Pro model – obviously targeted at the professional level. Is Apply implying that as a non-pro consumer, I only need 13″ of screen real estate on my notebook? Dell, HP, and every other PC manufacturer thinks differently and it is reflected in their respective notebook offerings. To me it is also blatantly simple: get a 15″ MacBook out for the regular consumer – not the “professional”. It can be plastic (as opposed to the Pro line’s aluminum) and doesn’t need to have the high-end GPU or CPU options that the Pro model has. Offer it for a starting price of $1300-1400 and they will have another hit on their hands.And while I’m on the subject of re-thinking the portable line-up, let’s offer some BTU stand-alone GPUs in all portable Macs. Don’t limit my GPU choices, especially when it comes to the MacBook Pro line. The non-pro line can have an option of the Intel GMA or a mid-range dedicated GPU, but the Pro models need to have more than one option for graphics processing.
And now to the other part: sales. Apple is picking up pace in its computer sales. The iPod, iPhone and iTunes are great catalysts in this. The brand recognition is high and people aren’t afraid of the word “Mac” anymore (or at least less afraid of it than they were ten years ago). Assuming this continues at an accelerating pace for the next few years (at it most likely will, unless Apple makes some really bad decisions), the Windows PC vendors will need to find a way to differentiate themselves not only from one another, but from Apple. Apple has one thing that no other PC manufacturer has: OS X. They also have very well-designed products (let’s talk computers here, though) and their store experience is unbeatable. The offer “the whole package”. Consumers will be drawn to that over the years, since more and more software services become web-based and platform-independent and thus Windows will begin to play a smaller role in the type of software we will be using.Thus, PC vendors will need something that’s much more intriguing than a shiny copy-cat PC design (think: Dell – an almost blatant, albeit poorly-executed, knockoff of Macs) to get the vote of the customer. What will it be? Price? Something else? An openness to Linux? No crap-ware preinstalled? I’ll be following them closely and as soon as I smell a change in the winds, I’ll let you know.In the mean time (if you still have time remaining), go to Audible and subscribe to an audio book. I recommend Harry Potter… or whatever you like.
Posted in Apple, Blogroll, Business, Decisions, PC vendors
