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As I see it it's basically price discrimination. Apple wants a certain profit margin for the model as a whole. Yet for customers who will never pay prices that
by byset 6y ago
As I see it it's basically price discrimination.
Apple wants a certain profit margin for the model as a whole. Yet for customers who will never pay prices that will give Apple that full margin, they offer a model at a low price point with a compressed margin, but with a painful aspect that will encourage customers who can pay to go with a higher priced unit — here, the painful thing is the small SSD size.
So the idea that the minimal-SSD model is somehow the "real" price and Apple is selling SSD space at an exorbitant markup, isn't quite right.
You could almost think of it as Apple offering a discount if you'll go with the smallest SSD, so they can capture more of the market while still keeping their average profit margins high.
If Apple charged "competitive $/TB prices", the small-SSD option would likely be more expensive, rather than the larger-SSD options being cheaper.
- rhizome 6y agoI think it's simpler than all that: any FRU gets a 5x price hike.
- byset 6y agoTo add to that, it allows them to advertise that "prices start at..." and give an unrealistically low price, which is manipulative, to be sure.
- kccqzy 6y agoPerhaps that's true for people who buy personal Macs, but in several companies I've worked for, the companies that buy Macs for work almost always use the smallest SSD option: you don't need a lot of local storage, since most files will be in company-managed storage systems.
- byset 6y agoSure, there will always be customers for whom the low-price option is perfect. Outlet malls are another form of price discrimination, as they offer lower prices for those willing to travel further to get the lower prices. But there will always be some people happen to live next to the outlet mall.
- Joeri 6y agoIf people want to "cheap out" they can always get it with the base storage and hang a big thunderbolt drive off the back. It basically performs the same as if it was built-in, at a much lower price. One can get the entry level 27 inch imac and add storage and RAM to get a high end config on the cheap (graphics excepted).