“Buy a Mac computer at your nearest Apple Store and receive a free 8GB iPod Touch! Just bring the acceptance letter, and you get to participate in one of the better ‘Back to School’ campaigns in recent memory,” Kaminsky reports. “My ‘Call-to-Action’ is to recall what this past Tuesday’s guest, Evercore’s Michael Price, said about Apple: The more hardware they get in people’s hands, the more apps they will buy.”
Kaminsky reports, “What a genius marketing move. Apple is essentially giving away the razor to sell the more expensive razor blades.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Great theory, except that’s it’s wrong. Apple makes the vast bulk of their profits on hardware, not iOS apps, which are free or low-priced on average (and Apple only gets 30%, the developers get 70% of the revenue). Most of Apple’s profits are rolled back into iTunes Store operating costs. The “Back to School” campaign (which is nothing new, by the way) is a way to sell more Macs (which don’t (yet) run iOS apps, by the way) to students and teachers by dangling a free iPod touch. It’s not “essentially giving away the razor to sell the more expensive razor blades.” Apple’s “Back to School” promos have usually been genius marketing moves, but not for the reason Kaminshy cites.
He’s partly right…
Apple isn’t getting iPod touches in the hands of kids to sell more apps. It’s getting these in the hand of kids to sell more iPhones. Once kids get attached to their iPod touch and iOS games and apps, they’re likely to purchase an iPhone down the road.
It is genius.
‘HyperCardMaven’ sez: “my Newton still works. I show it to young people who don’t remember Apple’s darker days.”
Off topic, but I have to ask “HUH?”
The Newton was certainly created during the Sculley Marketing-As-Management bad old days of Apple. But since when does the Newton itself represent anything dark? It was the first PDA! It was profoundly innovative.
But perhaps your point is that it was large and clunky, monocolor, and had fairly unreliable handwriting recognition. But it clearly was the father of the Palm Pilot, which gradually overcame all these shortcoming several years later.
The Newton was amazing for its time. It was ahead of its time. It was so ahead of its time that technology for it was not quite ready to allow it to be all that it could be. The same can be said for the first lightbulb, the telephone, the lighthouse, the automobile, the LASER, the satellite, the computer…
@Always Right
Thanks. That was great!
@Bill:
“Once kids get attached to their iPod touch and iOS games and apps, they’re likely to purchase an iPhone down the road.”
Agree with that insight 100%. These kids are future iPhone customers.
-hh
Dangling razor blades to sell razors?…
I just heard that Gillette sells a razor for $150.
Now That is overpriced!…
sorry but the columnist sounds like an idiot for all the reasons cited by MDN – who gets these jobs where they can write anything and CNBC publishes it? obnoxious article that is a way, makes Apple look bad, and that’s what the article really has to say – that Apple is luring kids with candy or some other such crappola
i wish i could intern at apple, they are the ultimate case study.
@018837
“Actually, I was surprised how many fellow students I met who bought macbooks but didn’t really like them that much, and didn’t plan on staying with mac long-term.”
That shows just how stuipd they are… But a Mac for 1500$ and get an iPod touch free.
Buy a cheap Dell laptop for 500$ buy an iPod touch for 200$ and be 800$ richer. Of course they still get stuck with windows crap.
PS, how can they not like the Mac. If they run bootcamp and use Windows they can have the same crap (like the fish LOL) that their dad uses. LOL
Just a thought,
en
The “genius move” also clears out remaining stock of the current iPod touch models before the new ones are introduced around September. Very convenient.
> Forgive my obsession with Apple, but in case you needed even more evidence of their kingdom, check out their newest promotion,
If this guy thinks this is Apple’s “newest” promotion, he’s not very knowledgeable about Apple. Or his “obsession” is very recent.
hes wrong. because the MDN and the fanbois says he is.
get a life guys. last time I checked – folks were entitled to their opinion.
Until MDN can write anything credible on it’s own – just stick to posting the news.
Maybe if you close your eyes and Wish real hard you idocy will come true…..
No, your just a TROLL Get a life son..
I love the hater post, just shows how hard some Anti Apple idiots try to turn things around, but even fail to keep on the subject that has been posted by the “OP” and the story line.
Apple is smart! They give away the latest iPods every year so they can sell more macs and get rid of the rest of their iPods in stock so they can come out with a newer version of the iPod touch. If you notice they do it every year then a new iPod comes out!
I’m a 16 year mac use r- first one being a quadra through g5’s now on a 20″ imac with an iphone g4 next to me on which I have pictures from my recent vacation and angry birds which as an app thrills me to no end.
Don’t assume people that disagree are windows “trolls”. Assume they may actually make a vane attempt at getting people to think for themselves as opposed to groupthink. Yes – I know groupthink is safer – ask anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh what they think about Democrats.
Groupthink is the safe bastion of the uneducated.
Apple says think different. Even when it means amongst your peers.
well, microwaving is dangerous, you could harm yourself, or others around you, so dont do it. it would also probably cause the screen to crack, or some of the exterior to melt. which would be a void of the warranty,
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/parental-control-a-complete-parental-control-software-review-2130892.html
My experience is that the student already has the iPod and the Touch goes to the parents who are thereby introduced to the Apple experience and once introduced are going on to buy iPhones and iMacs for themselves. Thanks a lot.
Why is it that windows/android trolls allways state how many mac products they own before bashing apple?
All I received in 1995 for my “freshman” PowerMac 7500 was a lousy HP Deskwriter 660. I still had to pay for ink cartridges…
MDN althogh that us true, it’s all about the Apps. If you get more Apps into peoples hands they will get even more commuted to the platform.
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