“6 months ago I asked: Apple’s new MacBooks: flop or fiasco? Apple answered ‘flop’ by backpedalling on pricing, the unibody and FireWire – in record time! The big loser? Microsoft’s successful ads focused on price. Maybe that’s a card you don’t want to play,” Robin Harris writes for ZDNet.
“These new price points are permanent. Despite the myth that Apple doesn’t cut prices, they have moved price points down many times over the years,” Harris writes. “Apple isn’t about to let Mac momentum die. This is good news for all consumers – Mac and PC.”
“Guess what: no more unibody MacBooks. MacBook Pro’s yes. But now the name MacBook is only on the plastic model,” Harris writes. “That’s a great move. Apple needs a price-optimized entry level system. Expect to see even more aggressive pricing on MacBooks now that there are 2 visually distinct brands again.”
“On the new 13″ unibody MacBook Pro FireWire has returned in an even faster 800Mb/s version. An adapter will connect existing 400Mb/s devices,” Harris writes. “And on the low-end MacBook? FireWire 400 never went away.”
“Apple doesn’t need price parity with Wintel to keep their business healthy and growing. These price drops affect people at the margin: people who wanted a Mac but found the lure of a lower price too tempting. Some of those folks will now buy a ‘Book,” Harris writes. “The big lesson is for Microsoft. The marketing adage, ‘Win on price – lose on price” applies here.'”
Full article here.
