Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, David, Thresher
MaxTheLimit wrote:I'm merely pointing out that customers of their product should ask themselves why they are paying as much as they do. It is strange to think that a group of people would accept paying more than they should have to based on the profit margins a company posts.
MaxTheLimit wrote:I'm merely pointing out that customers of their product should ask themselves why they are paying as much as they do. It is strange to think that a group of people would accept paying more than they should have to based on the profit margins a company posts.
MaxTheLimit wrote:Maybe, but it doesn't bother you that signs point to the products still being overpriced?
MaxTheLimit wrote:That wouldn't effect profit though. In fact high R&D would lower their profits, as some of the profit would be business expenditure to R&D. Profit is revenue minus costs, correct?
MaxTheLimit wrote:Maybe, but it doesn't bother you that signs point to the products still being overpriced? Would you not rather have the same service and products for a lower price? It seems clear that they definitely should be able to deliver exactly that. I think they make quality products that are supported well. That doesn't mean that they aren't still overpriced. I would pay 30 bucks for a small pack of beef jerky, and would say it was worth the money, but that doesn't mean it's not overpriced.
I think the take-away idea from his response is supposed to be that they have better products or products that "speak" to more people because Apple's done so much R&D on each product they sell. Yes, you can pick it apart with the non-success of some of their products in the past (and present, AppleTV?) but I think that's the general point the bloke was trying to make.
But isn't the fact that so many people DO pay the higher costs mean that the same service and products do NOT exist at a lower price?
MaxTheLimit wrote:Not having to pay anything to Microsoft is a big boost, but that being said it's still a little odd to see one company not really getting the total revenue higher than other companies, but to have their profits through the roof.
MaxTheLimit wrote:I just think it's interesting that Apple is able to get away with it. Few companies do.
MaxTheLimit wrote:I would really root for a company to jump in and offer a Mac at a lower price, similar to what that little Psystar ( or whatever it was called ) tried to do. If these Mac clones gained popularity, and tried to create competition from within the Apple home computing approach, maybe we would see some cheaper Macs, and I would love this! Probably unrealistic, but I would like all the benefits of owning a Mac...but not ave to pay so much for it. Looking at those numbers indicates that it might be possible for Apple to pull this off, while still having a profit margin better than almost everyone on that list...That's astounding.
Corrado wrote:But they do pay a full time team to write and support their own operating system, as well as develop drivers.
SNM wrote:Have you heard of capitalism?
End User wrote:What is your ideal price range?
MaxTheLimit wrote:SNM wrote:Have you heard of capitalism?
Yes. And Apple seems to exist outside of the typical model of competitive business. Few companies get away with pricing their products higher, when there is competing products. Amongst Apple customers, there doesn't seem to be that competition. That is rare in capitalism. I'm really not sure what point you are getting at.
MaxTheLimit wrote:Few companies get away with pricing their products higher, when there is competing products.
MaxTheLimit wrote:Yes. And Apple seems to exist outside of the typical model of competitive business. Few companies get away with pricing their products higher, when there is competing products. Amongst Apple customers, there doesn't seem to be that competition. That is rare in capitalism. I'm really not sure what point you are getting at.
Turkina wrote:MaxTheLimit wrote:Few companies get away with pricing their products higher, when there is competing products.
We're talking about market segmentation here. BMW prices their products higher than Kia even though they both make a mid-size 4 door V6 sedan. They target a different market segment however based upon things like "quality" (perceived or actual) and, yes, brand recognition/reputation. I can't seem to find any information on car company profit margins, but I'd expect the luxury nameplates have higher margins...
MaxTheLimit wrote:Turkina wrote:MaxTheLimit wrote:Few companies get away with pricing their products higher, when there is competing products.
We're talking about market segmentation here. BMW prices their products higher than Kia even though they both make a mid-size 4 door V6 sedan. They target a different market segment however based upon things like "quality" (perceived or actual) and, yes, brand recognition/reputation. I can't seem to find any information on car company profit margins, but I'd expect the luxury nameplates have higher margins...
Well that's the thing. BMW still has direct competition. There doesn't seem to be that direct comparative product for many of the apple products, but especially their home computer products. This leads to an odd, highly profitable it seems, business model.
Also SNM, it seems like you aren't actually reading my posts. I'm not much for repeating myself, so just back back to me about anything that is still unclear about the posts a little further up the page. Maybe you did, but I'm pretty sure what you are saying is unrelated to anything I've said.
MaxTheLimit wrote:Yes, that's exactly it. I wouldn't say I'm complaining about it, but rather a bit fascinated by the situation. It is VERY rare in a capitalist society that a company manages to be without peer, or without competition. It's interesting that Apple has managed to perform this feat in the home computing market. The lack of competition means that products can be priced higher than they would otherwise. This is unfortunate for me and anyone else who would benefit from competition, but for Apple as a company, I would say they have accomplished quite a feat.
End User wrote:MaxTheLimit wrote:Yes, that's exactly it. I wouldn't say I'm complaining about it, but rather a bit fascinated by the situation. It is VERY rare in a capitalist society that a company manages to be without peer, or without competition. It's interesting that Apple has managed to perform this feat in the home computing market. The lack of competition means that products can be priced higher than they would otherwise. This is unfortunate for me and anyone else who would benefit from competition, but for Apple as a company, I would say they have accomplished quite a feat.
I see tons of competition/options out there. When it was time to replace my Dual 2.7 G5 I built a quad core tower and installed Ubuntu 9.04.
SNM wrote:It's nice that Ubuntu works for you but it doesn't exactly do all the things that OS X and a Mac do.
Maybe, but it doesn't bother you that signs point to the products still being overpriced?