Discussion Forums > Technology
Apple releases new... everything
iindigo:
Well for a company that's doing everything wrong and needs to die, they seem to be doing really well. $12 billion surplus in the bank well.
--- Quote from: furuoshiki on May 25, 2009, 12:11:20 AM ---6) Take a look at Apple, AT&T and iPhone. Apple is a fucking coward and an idiot for releasing iPhone on a no-name cellular network alternatively known as a well-aged land-line cooperation and former behemoth that has been declining into a Coma since the late 1970's. If you are stupid enough to market your product with a cellular company that is seeing the end of it's days as a PREMIER telecommunications provider you must ALSO be stupid enough to continue developing niche products for high-end consumers in an economic recession. A recession is not only the time to cut costs but to GAIN TRUST and inevitably down the road...MARKET SHARE.
With greater market share in the computer industry naturally will come GREATER government subsidies and incentives to take on Microsoft. However, if your products are NOT RELIABLE and ALL TALK, then naturally NO ONE with a BRAIN will want to BACK YOU.
--- End quote ---
Apple went with AT&T in the US for one reason: no other carrier would take them.
In the early stages of development, they went around and talked to the various carriers to try to see if any would back them in their phone endeavors. Not having anything to show at that point and being a total unknown in the phone business, very few companies even showed interest. AT&T agreed to back them, but in turn demanded exclusivity for the length of the contract (which ends in 2010, btw).
furuoshiki:
Well that would be the point.
My marketing professor said that it's nothing short of a miracle that Apple was able to expand into Phones. It was a stupid risk and they were incredibly lucky that a partner in crime competing for the world's most struggling stragglers of enterprise heard the call to duty.
iPhone is not going to work on other providers because LG and Samsung will certainly have something to say about it. With Verizon and Sprint earning huge earnings and market share based on their increasingly competitive internet packages on these PDA/Smart phones produced by LG and others you can't expect them to sell out to apple just for one phone that can easily be trumped by the industry leaders in a year or less.
What you gotta realize is that Apple is just getting into Phones. LG and others have been doing this for a long time now. Are they intending to compete on the same level as them? Truly?
zherok:
--- Quote from: iindigo on May 25, 2009, 02:00:21 AM ---Well for a company that's doing everything wrong and needs to die, they seem to be doing really well. $12 billion surplus in the bank well.
--- End quote ---
Their reliance on pushing hardware for profit does seem to limit the likelihood they'll consider branching out to more conventional models though.
furuoshiki:
Personally I feel Apple's Mac has over-stayed it's welcome as "The historical alternative" to PC. It needs a major face-lift. The only reason it's still alive is because of rich pseudo-hipsters with mommies and daddies with money in the bank and art/music schools using them.
Yes you have users who actually care about computers and know what they are doing and enjoy Mac on a deeper level such as iindigo but you have to realize that such a group is not Mac's primary market nor are they intending to sell to computer users actually proficient in troubleshooting or for those that need productivity suites, accountability and quality assurance control in regards to keeping IT costs in check in the B2B context.
What I can't seem to get past is that you don't see Mac being used extensively in the public sector or the medium to large enterprise setting. You can hit me with "Gates has a stronghold on big business" all you want but if Microsoft actually didn't work and firms lost millions in potential revenue and profit from soaring IT costs I would think if Apple were a more viable alternative they would switch without hesitation, and the government would not punish them for such a transition but reward it to weaken the monopoly Microsoft has.
I understand that lobbies in select industries can be strong to keep out competitors and it is very hard to beat out such an entrenched behemoth with low prices and moderately high quality. But there really is no excuse for Apple since Jobs formerly worked with Gates extensively as a youth and knows how he thinks and secondly there are alternative options. You can either take the high route or low route. You try and out-price the competitor with competitive pricing or you increase your quality of service beyond anything the competitor can offer at his current price forcing him to raise his quality or price effectively. Now you can never "force" someone to raise their price as that is never a good idea in the B2C context and damages consumer confidence. But there are a variety of price setting privileges that a monopolist has in the B2B context that can only be turned over by government intervention.
My advice to Apple is both: Improve overall quality of "shelf-life", effectiveness and simplicity of Macs, and price competitively in the B2B context. (This requires Apple actually gaining consumer confidence in that sector) The fact of the matter is Apple is now forced to remain forever as an "exclusively" priced product because that is the history of their pricing strategy. If they change now they will look even less appealing than before and inconsistent unless Jobs is overthrown and a new administration is announced.
Overall Apple's marketing is not very appealing to most PC users to begin with:
Scenario I:
Apple guy: Hey c'mere kid.
(experienced) PC user : Yes?
Apple guy: Aren't you tired of BSODs? random errors?
(experienced) PC user : Uh I guess, but Command Prompt, Task Manager and some investigation usually clears it up in most cases.
Apple guy: Okay, but aren't you still tired of having to do all of that?
(experienced) PC user: Dude what the fuck is your problem?
Apple guy: Nothing nevermind.
Scenario II:
Apple Guy: Hey c'mere kid.
PC-n00b: Yes?
Apple Guy: Aren't you tired of having such a dull looking PC?
PC-n00b: Yeah like totally man.
Apple Guy: Wouldn't you like a computer that would make you UNIQUE?
PC-n00b: Like, totally for sure.
Apple Guy: You got $2000?
PC-n00b: Uh I could see my dad's credit card should have it.
Apple Guy: Cool. Come with me.
Scenario I (revised):
Apple Guy: Hey man, aren't PCs boring?
experienced PC user: DUDE STAY AWAY FROM ME, OKAY?
Apple Guy: Chill out it's cool. We have like so many colors for Mac. PC only comes in like 5 colors.
experienced PC user: I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU.
Apple Guy: It's okay man, it's okay...Fine I'll lower the price to like $1750 how does that sound?
experienced PC user: I CAN GET AN HP-Laptop with the same specs and quality for $500 bucks. I am a student. Why in the hell would I buy that over-priced shit? I am on cup-ramen as it is.
Apple Guy: But you will be the envy of all your friends...
experienced PC user: SHUT THE FUCK UP, I NEED TO EAT IN ORDER TO LIVE SO THAT I CAN USE A COMPUTER.
[Exaggerated and Dramatized, but you get the point]
iindigo:
In my eyes, two things are keeping Apple out of the enterprise market:
1. No cheapass computer to be bought en masse for employees. The Mac mini comes closest, but is still about $300 or $400 more expensive than the $200 and $300 junkboxes Dell will sell them.
2. Companies are unwilling to rewrite their inhouse software. So many companies make extensive use of custom-built in-house software. This wouldn't be bad, except this software is typically written hundreds of times worse than your average consumer application and leans on very specific parts of Windows - we're talking legacy code that should have been axed years ago. Sometimes these applications even require IE 5 or 6 to run.
So even if Apple did try to cater to that market, it wouldn't do them all that much good since these companies won't want to pay someone to rewrite their software. Apple would not only have to match or best Dell, etc in the cost sector but also have to pay the company or offer some other huge incentive to get them to even --consider-- switching.
And now you see why Apple has little interest in enterprise.
Also, keep in mind that despite the state of the economy and Apple's lackluster marketing, consumer marketshare is still slowly shifting towards Macs. At this point, Apple has approx. 10% of the entire internet-using population, up from 5-6% a few years ago.
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