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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect The Osborne effect is a term referring to the unintended conseque

by okket 10y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect The Osborne effect is a term referring to the unintended consequences of a company announcing a future product, unaware of the risks involved or when the timing is misjudged, which ends up having a negative impact on the sales of the current product. This is often the case when a product is announced too long before its actual availability. This has the immediate effect of customers canceling or deferring orders for the current product, knowing that it will soon be obsolete, and any unexpected delays often means the new product comes to be perceived as vaporware, damaging the company's credibility and profitability.

mikeash 10y ago
I don't think they care about this. Mac Pro sales aren't large enough to be important to the company's bottom line. It's far more important for them to keep pro customers from abandoning the Mac altogether.
stephen_g 10y ago
This is completely irrelevant to this situation. Their Mac Pro sales have surely already reduced to a trickle, and they will know that they will not sell a huge amount of the updated bridging model. The iMac update has been expected for a while so they're not changing much mentioning that's coming later this year either. It's not like killing the current Mac Pro sales is exactly going to put Apple in trouble - they're raking in money from the iPhone and MacBook (Pro) lines. This is a carefully thought out plan from Apple for sure, unlike Osborne's blunder.
- valuearb 10y ago
  They just refreshed the Mac Pro though. That's curious timing with the announcement.
  - jzl 10y ago
    I would guess that the only people buying Mac Pros at this point are people who need to for infrastructure compatibility reasons, and/or who need something more powerful than a MBP but absolutely can't go with an iMac for whatever reason. These are mostly people who probably would have been buying more even without the bump. So the bump is just a nice bonus and tip of the hat from Apple to hang in there. Example of what I'm talking about? Check out this Mac Pro server rack setup: http://photos.imgix.com/racking-mac-pros http://photos.imgix.com/racking-mac-pros
tmsldd 10y ago
That was a relevant comment! Given that at least part of their former loyalty customers are considering to migrate to other platforms, that would mean they're trying to break the speed of migration.. which is another aspect not covered by the Osborne effect you cited. The time runs against Apple. They are playing the rollete.

by okket 10y ago

mikeash 10y ago

I don't think they care about this. Mac Pro sales aren't large enough to be important to the company's bottom line. It's far more important for them to keep pro customers from abandoning the Mac altogether.

stephen_g 10y ago

This is completely irrelevant to this situation. Their Mac Pro sales have surely already reduced to a trickle, and they will know that they will not sell a huge amount of the updated bridging model. The iMac update has been expected for a while so they're not changing much mentioning that's coming later this year either. It's not like killing the current Mac Pro sales is exactly going to put Apple in trouble - they're raking in money from the iPhone and MacBook (Pro) lines. This is a carefully thought out plan from Apple for sure, unlike Osborne's blunder.

valuearb 10y ago
They just refreshed the Mac Pro though. That's curious timing with the announcement.
- jzl 10y ago
  I would guess that the only people buying Mac Pros at this point are people who need to for infrastructure compatibility reasons, and/or who need something more powerful than a MBP but absolutely can't go with an iMac for whatever reason. These are mostly people who probably would have been buying more even without the bump. So the bump is just a nice bonus and tip of the hat from Apple to hang in there. Example of what I'm talking about? Check out this Mac Pro server rack setup: http://photos.imgix.com/racking-mac-pros http://photos.imgix.com/racking-mac-pros

tmsldd 10y ago

That was a relevant comment! Given that at least part of their former loyalty customers are considering to migrate to other platforms, that would mean they're trying to break the speed of migration.. which is another aspect not covered by the Osborne effect you cited. The time runs against Apple. They are playing the rollete.