Will 2005 be the year Apple sets out to conquer the mainstream or shoots itself in the foot trying?

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“When [Apple CEO Steve Jobs] appears [at Macworld Expo to deliver his keynote address] on Jan. 11, the stakes could be considerably higher. That’s because rumor Web sites have been buzzing with talk of a sharp shift in strategy for the Cupertino (Calif.) computer maker,” Peter Burrows writes for BusinessWeek.

“First, the word is that Apple will field a cheaper version of its hugely successful iPod digital-music player, one that uses lower-capacity flash memory to store songs, rather than a hard drive, as in current models. Even more worthy of note, many expect Apple to unveil a $500 Mac. Even without a monitor, that would be far more affordable than the $800 eMate machine sold mostly to schools or the $1,300 consumer iMac,” Burrows writes.

MacDailyNews Note: We believe that Burrows means “eMac,” not “eMate.”

Burrows continues, “Could Apple stuff enough features and style into a $500 PC to maintain its hard-won brand as an innovation leader? For such a product to generate meaningful profits, Apple would need to sell millions of them, says NPD’s Baker. That could require expanding its distribution network and investing heavily in product catalogs and ad inserts in Sunday newspapers, the goal being to highlight prices and features, vs. the competition. ‘They don’t do that kind of advertising,’ says Baker. ‘They do aren’t-our-products-beautiful advertising.'”

“Add it all up, and this should be one of the most fascinating Macworlds in memory. Along with his knack for squeezing innovative products out of Apple, Jobs also deserves kudos for having had the financial discipline to stay out of no-win commodity markets. That’s why Apple is the only PC maker, other than Dell, to show consistent profits from the PC game,” Burrows writes. “If Jobs wades into those cutthroat markets, it will likely say a lot about Apple’s future. It could that that tomorrow’s Mac addicts will look back on 2005 as the year Apple set out to conquer the mainstream — or shot itself in the foot trying.”

Full article here.

Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple vs. Microsoft rivalry heats up again – January 10, 2005
Apple Computer will own the living room, not Microsoft – January 10, 2005
Cringely predicts $249 Macintosh, would make Apple the world’s number one PC company – January 10, 2005

10 Comments

  3. Within weeks, my friends and family and I will purchase at least seven headless iMacs @ $600 each if this rumour is true…. (and still counting – haven’t spoken to my workmates yet.)

    My friends and family switchers are already convinced about their need for a Mac (yes – need, not want. Windows is just sucking too many hours and has lost too much data for there to even be a question of needing a Mac.)

    The price point of the new machine will enable them to buy now instead of “sometime this year.”

    I hope Steve has the factories working overtime already – he’s going to need all the product he can get his hands on.

    Reply

  4. just wondering..

    isn’t this the time Apple is going to introduce the new QT Codec, H.7somethingorother?

    Could it be that the new $500 box is really built around this new codec, and is designed to download movies just like iTunes downloads music? 99� for a tune.. $9.99 for a whole movie? Perhaps the time for a new service, iFilms

    As an added benefit, the new box can also handle iTunes, surf the web, and send and receive e-mail, all w/o the fear of malware and spyware.

    Guess we’ll all just have to WAIT AND SEE.

    Reply

  9. Apple have an opportunity this year to get out there, ahead of Longhorn. Microsoft have stumbled badly with the malware situation and there’s a small (dare I say it?) window of opportunity to grab some more market share.

    Apple stupidly missed doing it in ’95 – so the question is, will they do it 10 years later?

    The other interesting thing is how many “sleeper” Apple lovers are there? I mean, if one guy knows 7 people who’ll buy a cheap Mac, how many people are also out there who would??

    I only hope Apple have the stock to handle demand this time.

    Reply

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