Some people haven’t been paying attention for the past three decades, so I have a newsflash for them: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers.”
The latest “shock” to the perpetually Apple-ignorant on Wall Street is the iPad mini, which starts at US$329, not the $199 or so that iPad wannabe outfits charge for their ecosystem-free, tiny screen, cheap plastic slabs of junk. Whoever thought Apple was going to play at the bottom of the barrel either hasn’t been paying attention or was born yesterday. Wake up or have a happy birthday.
Apple’s Phil Schiller told reporters as much today following the iPad mini’s debut, saying he expects consumers to recognize quality and be willing to pay for it.
And those who won’t deserve their fate.
“Theirs is made of plastic,” Schiller said, referring to the Android tablet. “The entire Android product is thicker and heavier.” Not to mention that they have no apps beyond upscaled phone apps and random “marketplaces” full of malware.
Amidst a raft of analysts who don’t, Janney analyst Bill Choi gets it, writing, “We don’t think Apple needs to compete aggressively on price against mini-tablets from Android; Apple continues to sell a premium product in the fast growing tablet market at premium price points.”
Listen, if you can’t afford an iPad mini, you’re not in the target market. Stop whining. Nobody cares. Developers aren’t interested in those who can’t muster at least $329 for iPad mini. Neither are advertisers. Neither is Apple, who are running a business, not a charity. If you want an iPad mini, but you can’t afford it, either save up for one or trot on over to Costco and settle for a cheesy, plastic, tiny screen pretend iPad mini and all that doesn’t go with it. The choice is yours. It’s like an IQ test.
So, to recap: With iPad mini, nothing has changed. Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers and, when all is said and done, they will sell hundreds of millions of iPad mini units worldwide.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
You forgot to add “And, they provide Premium service!”
Apple owns the high-end of virtually all product sectors they compete in, so it makes perfect sense to secure the high-end of this 7~8″ tablet segment as well and then slowly work their way down. Apple can always lower prices later as new models with better specs are released.
Apple will sell every one of these they can make at these prices, so why sell them lower? If the parts and labor cost is around $200, the margin is nearly 40% at $329. That’s a good healthy margin and it’s still worth it for the consumers to pay that premium for the Apple experience and ecosystem.
This is off-topic, but I needed to post it somewhere. I keep hearing about the Microsoft Surface keyboard cover. It costs $130. It won’t perform as well as the Apple wireless keyboard, which costs only $69. The most expensive Apple iPad cover will only cost you $69. That means you can get an Apple wireless keyboard and Apple cover for $140 at the most. This is a far better combination of utility and price than the Surface keyboard cover. That’s IF you really need to use a full keyboard.
Apple products are dirt cheap!
Said no one.
Ever.
I’ve said it, and meant it. It’s much cheaper to own Apple products over the long term.
The reason why iPad mini’s starting price is $329, I believe, it will give Apple some breathing room when the iPad mini 2nd gen. is out so that Apple can lower the iPad mini 1st gen to, say, ~$200.
Just like cars, BMW don’t have to lower its flagship 7 series’ price to complete with Kia. There is no need for Apple to complete with bottom-of-the-barrel tablets.
If apple priced the mini at $249 or $299 they would not be able to fulfill the demand, so why not make some profit rather than take a loss?
premium customers? come on. I have seen a lot of people who bought apple products. they didn’t seem rich or work for well paid job. they just want to buy apple products. don’t you see that lots of izombies are walking around apple store?
You don’t have to be wealthy to be intelligent and display simple common sense. It’s less expensive to own Apple products over the long term. I’m still using a 2nd Generation iPod.
When you buy from ‘Apple Inc.’ you don’t need to be told you are getting the best your instinct tells you that this is so. ‘You pay for what you get’! Let the ‘whiners’ & ‘whingers’ enjoy their ‘droids’ et al. and besides who really cares anyway?
Reblogged this on davedeaton and commented:
Excellent point made by SteveJack…
MDNs take is wrong.
Apple Downey sell premium products for premium customers.
Apple sells award winning designed products, with an intuitive OS, that is easy to use to customers that value quality, design and ease if use.
I’ve never known so many crap comments about $30!!!
It’s bloody ridiculous.
Bottom line – IF $30 IS THE DRAL BREAKER FOR YOU TO BUY THE BEST MINI TABLET AROUND THEN YOU ARE NOT THE CUSTOMER APPLE WANTS OR NEEDS.
I put more then that in petrol in my car every week!
Jesus get a reality check and buy the go damn thing!
Everyone get a reality check!
Apple was never to go price the ipad mini at $199 because it would have canibalised the iPod touch mark and sales.
For apple to price ipad mini at $199 they would have had to reduce the price of the iPod touch.
And by announcing that fact in the keynote would have been suicide because people would now be thinking do I buy an iPod touch or a paid mini.
Apple wants people to buy both not one or the other.
Now everyone stop wining about the god damn price and live with it.
Buy it or don’t – it’s upto you.
To me the $30 isn’t a deal breaker – I’m still buying 2 or 3 of them!
This post has Apple and Steve Jobs’ philosophy fundementally wrong. Apple makes computers and devices for the masses. They do attempt to make the best product possible and then price it accordingly. Sometimes they get it wrong – like the Cube or the $600 iPhone. Most of the time they get it right – the $199 – $399 iPhone 5. Even Steve knew he wasn’t immune to mistakes. This $329 iPad mini price is close, but just slightly off. This elitist attitude will only serve to alienate the people Jobs wanted to serve and who’s lives he wanted to improve through the gift of technology.
For what you get it’s the others cheap plastic junk that is overpriced.
Buy, don’t buy. That is the decision you have to make. It won’t hurt Apple one way or another. The people that bitch and moan probably shouldn’t buy Apple gear anyways. But most of them end up regretting it later anyways.
I’d like to weigh in. My phone is Android (Galaxy Note, gasp). My office desktop OS is Windows 7. My office tablet is an iPad 2 (I also have an iPod classic which I will love forever). I really enjoy my Note, as the iPhone 5 screen is too small for me; I have a sensory disorder which affects how I respond to things I see. That sensory disorder also means that I appreciate how objects feel – and the iPad 2 and my old iPod are top notch. $329 for the Mini is not overly expensive. The five megapixel camera is a great addition and the free/cheap app ecosystem is incredible. And I did mention build quality, right? Just ’cause I love my Note doesn’t mean that Samsung isn’t known as the Plastic Fantastic for nothing.
I do fear that the $329 price point might keep this worthy tablet from the hands of thousands of students. I taught for several years and eventually moved to the financial/accountability/assessment side of education. Budgets are terrible and may get worse before they improve, and every dollar possible is being used to save classroom jobs (and rightly so). Amazon may sell a ton of $200 devices to educational institutions beating in mind the economic climate.
And I’m ordering 20 for the school library, schools are going to buy them like crazy
I don’t know about that; some schools will, particularly if they are in the procurement part of their multi-year cycle.
Some will, particularly if they are in the procurement end of their multiyear budget cycle. But many more will look at the $200 options from Amazon et al, certainly when bearing in mind the on-going cost of re-purchasing textbooks for the iPads as students enter and exit their programs.
From a consumer standpoint the iPad Mini is worth the price. I stand by the opinion that many schools can’t afford them now and will have even less ability to purchase them next year.
Pricing is the strongest control that any supplier has over demand. They are betting that they will sell pretty much all that they can make between now and January at this price point. If they turn out to be correct, then there is absolutely no reason for them to have priced it any lower. It would have been irresponsible of them to do so, increasing demand with no possibility of the satisfying it, while simultaneously throwing away margins. If it turns out that demand is lower than they had forecast, they can always drop the price to $299 to increase demand.
NEWSFLASH: I don’t want to pay $329 for a smaller tablet. I really wanted an iPad that was smaller than they released and an iPhone that was bigger than they released. Apple’s let me down.
“The iPad mini will never sell! It’s too expensive for such a small device!”
Wow, that sounds familiar. Really familiar. Like, didn’t we hear the same thing almost 9 years ago, in January 2004? Exactly the same thing? Word for word?
Oh, wait. It wasn’t exactly the same thing. One letter has changed.
Analysts in 2004: “The iPod mini will never sell! It’s too expensive for such a small device!”
Yeah, I think the new prediction will turn out about as well as the last.
——RM
Absolutely Apple dosen’t make cheap products, but tech that people will love and continue to use over and over again.
Life was better in 2012 with no applecynic or goeB to waste your day away with bulltish