“With a $599 netbook, Apple Inc. could move into a fast-growing market without cannibalizing existing sales and still make the profit margin investors have come to expect, a financial analyst argued Monday,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.
“‘Despite management’s commentary that it’s not interested in the netbook market, the key to Apple’s model is continued [share] penetration,’ said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech. ‘Currently, Apple has about 3.5% of the computer market. But I see that tapering off this year, for two reasons,” he said. “One, it will be difficult to stay at that share in this downturn with a high-priced product. And two, the company has indicated it has no interest in playing in the fastest-growing segment,'” Keizer reports.
“He envisions a device boasting a 10.1-in. screen and a 16GB solid-state drive, perhaps powered by an ARM processor designed by P.A. Semi,” Keizer reports. “Marshall pointed to Hewlett-Packard ‘s Mini 1000 netbook as a starting point for comparisons to what Apple might build. When configured with a 10.1-in. display and 16GB of hard drive space, the Mini 1000 XP costs about $399.”
“‘If you assume a 50% premium for Apple’s netbook, it would be priced around $599,’ said Marshall, noting, as have other analysts, that the number was above what CEO Steve Jobs said last year was a too-low price point. ‘We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk,’ Jobs said last year during a conference call with Wall Street analysts,” Keizer reports.
Full article here.
