3 ms·

Doesn't really matter. Apple makes a very narrow range of products for high-end consumers, and that's a small portion of the market. Apple has nothing for the

by scholia 11y ago

Doesn't really matter. Apple makes a very narrow range of products for high-end consumers, and that's a small portion of the market. Apple has nothing for the average home user who wants a $199-$399 laptop. Or even for the geek or gamer who wants a reasonably-priced tower.

acdha 11y ago
> Doesn't really matter. Apple makes a very narrow range of products for high-end consumers, and that's a small portion of the market. It's about half the market as far as profit goes – the low-end stuff is absurdly low margin and customers have very little brand loyalty. More importantly, the netbook and other low-end market has been fading as people buy tablets and large smartphones. It's not at crossover yet but there's a growing percentage of people who don't have a traditional computer at all and that's going to eat into the low-end market most heavily because the difference in utility between a $200 netbook and a $200 tablet is the smallest and hardware quality is often better on the tablet side. The demographic shift is somewhat fascinating, with PC ownership declining by 10% for people under 30 in the last 5 years: “Today, 78% of adults under 30 own a laptop or desktop computer, compared with 88% who did so in 2010. Smartphone ownership, on the other hand, has surpassed both of these devices, with 86% of 18- to 29-year-olds owning one in 2015.” http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-owne...
- scholia 11y ago
  It's about half the market as far as profit goes – the low-end stuff is absurdly low margin and customers have very little brand loyalty. Yes, that's true. But Apple needs to have a high profit margin because it only makes $1 billion a week (after tax) and has only $200 billion in the bank. It would obviously be a waste of money to serve more people, or even pay its Chinese workers a living wage. More importantly, the netbook and other low-end market has been fading as people buy tablets and large smartphones. The netbook market hasn't existed for a very long time, but sales of $199 laptops like the HP Stream 11 seem to be pretty good. Obviously they don't include the ability to overcharge users by $100 a shot for small increases in RAM or storage. However, the tablet market -- including iPads -- is declining faster than the PC market. Nowadays even Apple has followed Samsung etc in making phablets.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    " It would obviously be a waste of money to serve more people, or even pay its Chinese workers a living wage." They do. Compare the workers at Foxconn Apple factories to other factory workers. And remember that just about every other tech company also makes their stuff in China.
    - scholia 11y ago
      Every company makes stuff in China, but not under the massive pressure that Apple's big-bang marketing puts them under, where workers are forced to deliver many millions of devices in the shortest possible time. It was Apple production lines that were driving suicides, and hence the nets round Foxconn dorms. Pegatron has had Chinese workers doing 90-100 hours a week, sometimes more, just so Apple fanboys can get their fancy new toys without the massive loss of kudos that waiting a month would cost them. http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/107 http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/107 And Apple workers do not get a living wage, according to China Labor Watch, even though -- as I stated correctly -- Apple is making a billion dollars a week in profits and has more than $200 billion in cash. Of course, this isn't brutal capitalist exploitation. Or if it is, well, who cares?

by scholia 11y ago

acdha 11y ago

> Doesn't really matter. Apple makes a very narrow range of products for high-end consumers, and that's a small portion of the market. It's about half the market as far as profit goes – the low-end stuff is absurdly low margin and customers have very little brand loyalty. More importantly, the netbook and other low-end market has been fading as people buy tablets and large smartphones. It's not at crossover yet but there's a growing percentage of people who don't have a traditional computer at all and that's going to eat into the low-end market most heavily because the difference in utility between a $200 netbook and a $200 tablet is the smallest and hardware quality is often better on the tablet side. The demographic shift is somewhat fascinating, with PC ownership declining by 10% for people under 30 in the last 5 years: “Today, 78% of adults under 30 own a laptop or desktop computer, compared with 88% who did so in 2010. Smartphone ownership, on the other hand, has surpassed both of these devices, with 86% of 18- to 29-year-olds owning one in 2015.” http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-owne...

scholia 11y ago
It's about half the market as far as profit goes – the low-end stuff is absurdly low margin and customers have very little brand loyalty. Yes, that's true. But Apple needs to have a high profit margin because it only makes $1 billion a week (after tax) and has only $200 billion in the bank. It would obviously be a waste of money to serve more people, or even pay its Chinese workers a living wage. More importantly, the netbook and other low-end market has been fading as people buy tablets and large smartphones. The netbook market hasn't existed for a very long time, but sales of $199 laptops like the HP Stream 11 seem to be pretty good. Obviously they don't include the ability to overcharge users by $100 a shot for small increases in RAM or storage. However, the tablet market -- including iPads -- is declining faster than the PC market. Nowadays even Apple has followed Samsung etc in making phablets.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  " It would obviously be a waste of money to serve more people, or even pay its Chinese workers a living wage." They do. Compare the workers at Foxconn Apple factories to other factory workers. And remember that just about every other tech company also makes their stuff in China.
  - scholia 11y ago
    Every company makes stuff in China, but not under the massive pressure that Apple's big-bang marketing puts them under, where workers are forced to deliver many millions of devices in the shortest possible time. It was Apple production lines that were driving suicides, and hence the nets round Foxconn dorms. Pegatron has had Chinese workers doing 90-100 hours a week, sometimes more, just so Apple fanboys can get their fancy new toys without the massive loss of kudos that waiting a month would cost them. http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/107 http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/107 And Apple workers do not get a living wage, according to China Labor Watch, even though -- as I stated correctly -- Apple is making a billion dollars a week in profits and has more than $200 billion in cash. Of course, this isn't brutal capitalist exploitation. Or if it is, well, who cares?