Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer was a featured presenter on Thursday at the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium, held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoeniz, Ariz. During the half-hour session, Oppenheimer answered questions about the iPod’s “Halo” effect, the importance of the Mac mini, Apple’s continued retail efforts and other issues facing the company.
Apple CFO muses on iPod halo effect, Mac mini, more
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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What Apple need to do is open *MORE* shops in their overseas markets, and market their products better. Its pathetic to think that in a city of 300,000, Canberra only had one Mac dealer, and what was worse, the shop was located where donkeys dig for day light.
The retail idea is great, they just need to realise there is a world behind the shores of the United States.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4502-6497_7-0.html?tag=pick&orderby=&qt=&10…
These little harddrive mp3 players puzzle me boys!
Lets see here. One baby lil hard drive . Cost = over $100.
Why ? Whats the real story here? Probably that there are only a few manufacturers and i have seen some litigation against those that have gone into the market.
Don’t you think it’s odd that a magnetic harddrive should cost so much ?
The reason why they cost more is due to the fact that there isn’t the same volume as there is for desktop hard disks, hence the reason why many have jumped on board as there are decent margins vs. the cut throat world of desktop hard drive manufacturing at this current point.
I wonder how many mac minis have been sold to date. I keep hearing about how many people are switching, buying a mac for the first time, etc., but no sales figures?
It was posted today on the web that an analyst said to expect 5 million Shuffles and 900,000 mac minis to be sold in 2005. I think I read that on news.com earlier today.
ya true, nobody is hearing anything about the no of mini’s sold. other than the usual first adopters who almost but anything, I dont see it with anybody else. Its better for Apple I guess, will not hurt their overall margins much
I have a lingering doubt that Sony will put a “stripped” down MacOSX on top of PS3. It will instantly give PS3 the “media hub” award and Apple the volumes without having to touch general PCs. Such a combination will surely “blow by” xbox,
Well, from an informal talk to a mate at Magnummac, as soon as they’ve got them in the store, they’re out again. They’re getting as many as they can delivered, and yet the still run out.
Oh, and if you’re wodering, these are “normal people”, not those early adopters would by anything that is the latest.
Actually, it’s here:
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_710435.html
Yesterday, I opened the box of my Sony PSP (handheld game thingy). I live in Holland, so had to import a Japanese version. But it’s awesome. I simply have no other word for it. It really is. I think something like this should have been the next Ipod. It plays music, video, games, photos, has WiFi included (easy to configure), mini USB, mini DVD and Memorystick DUO slot. It is a fantastic designed device, with a great interface … over 6 hours of fullblown gaming, on a fantastic high res full color screen, with gorgeous sound on one battery (they use the same as in their videocam’s) …
True, it is bigger than my wives white (3g) iPod, but not that much. Roughly 1 1/2 times in length and just a bit wider, not much thicker. It fits in my jeans pocket.
I’m a great Apple lover (typing this on my 17” powerbook) and not that much of a Sony fan, but unless Apple is quick to react, I see trouble ahead. A digital TV expansionkit for the PSP is in the making, which would make the Sony PSP the ideal portable entertainment device. That’s like visiting a football match in the stadium, while watching the other game on your PSP. And the thing in cars…..
For all I know and care there aren’t many (any) stores that carry Apple hardware in India. It cost me freaking 3500 rupees (almost 80 USD) to get a USB keyboard. The stores that carry Apple hardware in India sell it at a very over-priced rate. For Apple to sell in India it going to take more than my lifetime. Btw, I am writing this on my PowerMac G5, on a stupid dialup connection as our goverment does not deem us worthy enough of having true broadband.
The salary of the computer programmers/ engineers being less than 300 dollars on an average who can afford a mac in India.
any ipod without decent line-in and/or digital audio IO is still a lousy joke for me. apple mostly cares about consumers nowadays, not about creating stuff.
Just so you know, Apple sells hardware at aa “very over-priced rate” everywhere. Its just the way they are.
For all I know and care there aren’t many (any) stores that carry Apple hardware in India. It cost me freaking 3500 rupees (almost 80 USD) to get a USB keyboard. The stores that carry Apple hardware in India sell it at a very over-priced rate. For Apple to sell in India it going to take more than my lifetime. Btw, I am writing this on my PowerMac G5, on a stupid dialup connection as our goverment does not deem us worthy enough of having true broadband.
Please, just because your country chooses to have tariffs up to the ceiling and beyond, don’t blame Apple for passing those costs onto their customers.
If you want a keyboard, why not order it off an American company like Small Dog?
I am afraid you misunderstood me there. It doesn’t matter why the prices are high in a particular country, but the sales of Apple are going to get affected by that eventhough it’s not Apple’s fault. I wasn’t blaming Apple at all.
Hopefully Apple will open stores in India. I think Apple has an aggressive execution of opening stores in the US but they can do better overseas and hopefully we will see that in the next few months. As an aside I like the Apple keyboards but a keyboard from MS or Logitech is just as good if not better.
For all I know and care there aren’t many (any) stores that carry Apple hardware in India. It cost me freaking 3500 rupees (almost 80 USD) to get a USB keyboard. The stores that carry Apple hardware in India sell it at a very over-priced rate. For Apple to sell in India it going to take more than my lifetime. Btw, I am writing this on my PowerMac G5, on a stupid dialup connection as our goverment does not deem us worthy enough of having true broadband.
Hunh,I thought there were enough avenues for broadband India. You could get a Reliance Cellphone and get about 144K connections, better than dailup.
http://www.relianceinfo.com/Infocomm/Rim/rim_rconnect.html
There are other reasons Apple will have a slow uptake in India. But don’t blame your government for your lack of research.
The stores that carry Apple hardware in India sell it at a very over-priced rate. For Apple to sell in India it going to take more than my lifetime.
Maybe you should try going to the Apple store then.
http://www.asia.apple.com/store/india/
Also, If people in india can buy mobile phones for INR26000 -INR35000 ($400 US+), affording a mac shouldn’t be that much of a stretch. I saw enough Nokia 6600 and Sony Ericsson P800s in India while I visited.
I live in India, so let me clarify a few things.
First, India is not a market for Apple. Apple is under no obligation to sell it’s products in India, and even if Apple sold their systems for dirt cheap rates, and got a large market share in India, it would barely make a dent in their global market share or income, and so is not smart from a business perspective.
Apple competes in the mid-to-upper end of the computer market. It competes on quality and style. Most of India’s market is in the low-end. Assembled or brand computers starting from Rs. 18,000 to 25,000. Most of the software is pirated. Apple will not compete in this segment.
Macs are available in the metro cities, and will be delivered to most parts of the country. Yes, they are expensive: mainly because they sell in very small volumes (mainly to publishing companies, Newspapers, and advertising agencies) and so it is expensive to maintian an inventory. Even an iPod mini costs about Rs. 18,000 (over 400 dollars).
Import taxes on computers are very little. No, the main reason Macs are more expensive, is because of the very low volumes.
You can purchase a USB keyboard and mouse for under thousand rupees. You can get a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse for 2,500 rupees. The prices you quote are totally false, unless you are talking about the Apple Keyboard, but then you do know that you can use any USB keyboard and mouse.
If you do want to buy a Mac, it is expensive, but many people could afford it.
A Mac mini : Rs. 33,500
a Samsung CRT: Rs. 4,500
USB keyboard and mouse: Rs. 1000
extra RAM: Rs. 2000
Total: Rs. 41,000
IF you earn 15,000 rupees (300 dollars) a month, that’s 180,000 rupees a year (3,600 dolars). So yes, a computer programmer would be able to afford a Mac. It would be expensive for him, and less powerful for development, but if he wanted a Mac, he could buy it.
Oh, and the Indian government wants to improve the IT infrastructure. Most of the large ISPs – BSNL, Sify, Reliance have started offering broadband connections in select areas. If a couple years, most cities and large towns will have broadband availability.
I doubt if Apple is gonna open an Apple store in India anytime in the near future.
Who knows what can happen a few years from now, but I can guarantee that there will be no Apple stores in India for the next 5-10 years.
“Who knows what can happen a few years from now, but I can guarantee that there will be no Apple stores in India for the next 5-10 years.”
I’m not so sure like you. 😉
I doubt if Apple is gonna open an Apple store in India anytime in the near future.
Who knows what can happen a few years from now, but I can guarantee that there will be no Apple stores in India for the next 5-10 years.
I wouldn’t be too sure. If a mall like crossroads in Mumbai can have Marks and Spencer, Tag Heuer showroom, And highend Audio stores.
An Apple store might not be that far off.
The ISP’s that provide broadband are gving speeds that are far below braodband standards and download limits that are laughable. Sir, I am using dialup and most of you peole here do not know that when using dialup in India you have to pay both the ISP charges (per hour) and also the phone charges (ulsed every 3 minutes). That makes dial-up in India more expensive than broadband anywhere in the developed world. I am a computer engineer graduated from the US and am presently in India, so I do know about the broadband standards. Please stop the jingoism here “My country right or wrong” bloody sucks. What speeds do reliance provide 156 kbps, is that fit enough to be called broadband, what are we here a joke. The rest of the world is talking about 8mbps or 16 mbps without any download limit and the indian isps can offer me 512 kbps connection with a download limit of 1 to 4GB for 2500 rupess. Please don’t start here, I can line up this board with facts. Btw, Arpan do you stay in India or the US.
One of the things I enjoy about Apple products is that their computers are so much less expensive than PCs all this talk on this board that Apple computers are somehoe more expensive is bizarre.
Sure, there may not be as many places to get a Mac custom configured to suit my needs and allow me to buy less and pay less… but that doesn’t make Apple’s competition less expensive… it makes them more configurable. When a PC is spec’d up to match the Mac in both hardware and software is always comes out more.
As far as the iPod pricing is concerned however… a fair competition can’t easily be made because one of the greatest aspects of the iPod’s superiority are things like the interface, the iPod’s design/scroll wheel, its ability to connect to the iTMS… and also cool features like airtunes.
Many of these features CAN’T be duplicated by other companies because Apple owns them. Sure, another company can’t make something better… but so far noone has.
The PSP ios indeed great… but not as a music player. It will certinly sell when… as a portable gaming machine, but its sales will not be at the expensive of the iPod.
then why do people buy them? (like me
)
And if the margins are sooo great, that apple makes HUGE profits by ripping off customers, how come NOBODY has ever tried to compete with them? A G5-Chip doesn’t cost much at all. All it takes is to develop a nice mainboard und maybe a nice OS (or adapt Darwin or Linux).
Maybe Macs are just a reasonable deal for what you pay, since noone else offers software of that usability.
<quote>
Sure, there may not be as many places to get a Mac custom configured to suit my needs and allow me to buy less and pay less… but that doesn’t make Apple’s competition less expensive… it makes them more configurable. When a PC is spec’d up to match the Mac in both hardware and software is always comes out more.
As far as the iPod pricing is concerned however… a fair competition can’t easily be made because one of the greatest aspects of the iPod’s superiority are things like the interface, the iPod’s design/scroll wheel, its ability to connect to the iTMS… and also cool features like airtunes.
Many of these features CAN’T be duplicated by other companies because Apple owns them. Sure, another company can’t make something better… but so far noone has.
</quote>
you’re wrong on several things here.
1. PC price/performance are much better than for apple.
2. Ipods superiority is subjectable. Granted their interface and application is easy to use for most people, but their playback quality is poor compared to any of its competitions.
3. Other groups (mainly OSS) have made better features on their programs, although these are subjectable too, because OSS create programs aimed for professionals and computer geeks.
<quote>
then why do people buy them? (like me
)
And if the margins are sooo great, that apple makes HUGE profits by ripping off customers, how come NOBODY has ever tried to compete with them? A G5-Chip doesn’t cost much at all. All it takes is to develop a nice mainboard und maybe a nice OS (or adapt Darwin or Linux).
Maybe Macs are just a reasonable deal for what you pay, since noone else offers software of that usability.
</quote>
You should know many companies have tried to make products using apple hardware. But they can’t without heavy restrictions impose on them by apple. Not including the G5 here ofcourse.
One good example is how apple killed the general adoption of firewire because it wanted to charge too much for royality. Apple backed down on this, but by then USB took over, so it was too late.
I am afraid you misunderstood me there. It doesn’t matter why the prices are high in a particular country, but the sales of Apple are going to get affected by that eventhough it’s not Apple’s fault. I wasn’t blaming Apple at all.
Interesting, here is what you said:
The stores that carry Apple hardware in India sell it at a very over-priced rate. For Apple to sell in India it going to take more than my lifetime.
Hmm, to me, thats like a double, a whinge and a blame.
Please, I’m not going to get into politics, but we *ALL* know who is to blame for Indias “we must be self reliant” complex that causes the government to have tariffs that go to the stratosphere and beyond; that coupled with the fact that it sits in the top five most corrupt nations, there is little wonder why it costs so damn much to get anything into India – this not only includes computers but anything.
There are no stores of Apple as such in India, only certain stores that carry Apple products and can charge whatever they want, supply and demand. No way is that Apple’s fault, Apple cannot have stores in every country. I was blaming the lack of infrastructure (the key ingredient to a successful economy). India is a very small purchasing market, purchasing power is dependent on the per capita income. I was just expressing my opinion, that some time you (a company) can suffer because of others fault. Btw our goverment does not care about “self reilance” all it cares about it controlling our lifes. It’s kinda complex, I would leave it there.
Arpan, I guess you didnot know thatmac mini has only one slot for placing ram. I don’t think it would be easy for me to purcahse 1 gb ram for mac mini.
I was just expressing my opinion, that some time you (a company) can suffer because of others fault. Btw our goverment does not care about “self reilance” all it cares about it controlling our lifes.
I think you need to take a look at the latest episode; tsunami hits an area, UN offers aid, but the Indian government, in its usual fashion, turns down the offer.
This whole Ghandi enspired BS of “we will not be reliant on other nations”, shown by the number of inefficient, tax payer subsidised companies the government owns, from those crappy India made cars, the shonky telephone service, and the shock one receives when taking the train only to find someone is taking a dump on the train track, just in front of the train.
This whole BS of “we should make everything in India, so that we don’t have to import anything”. Here we are, 50 years later, and amazing enough, India now looks *WORSE* than it did under the British.
Personally, give up and move. Unless a violent revolution occurs, India will keep limping along on the socialist drivel, that has been proven to be a failure in every case.
It plays music, video, games, photos, has WiFi included
Um, yeah. And only “little” bigger…
This is an exact reason why I got iPod myself. I want that freaking thing only to play MUSIC and play it for good. Adding extra features to competitiors players do not kill iPod. Rather do something as simplified, easy to use and intuitive, JUST for playing music (just what iPod does), and there _might_ be a change. So far everyone has failed. Players either don’t look good, are hard to use, require some crappy software to use it (which crashes, doesn’t work, is hard to use).
You fail to see also why iPod is so popular, it seems…
How do you know so much about India, you must have stayed here. Anyways I do won a PowerMac G5 that kinda takes me away from the horrible reality. Peace.
How do you know so much about India, you must have stayed here. Anyways I do won a PowerMac G5 that kinda takes me away from the horrible reality. Peace.
Been there and studied it. Too many westerners go to India with this romantic notion that it is like the Beatles visit to India; people sitting around, smoking pipes, finding their ‘inner being’ and there is harmony on every corner.
It maybe growing at 7% a year and there are a decent number of middle class jobs, but the underlying fact remains 800million don’t have running water or a toilet.
Its like Japan, people have this notion that the whole of Japan is like Tokyo because that is the only place they’ve ever been to; the underlying fact is, they get quite a shock once they leave the big cities and wonder in the country side. The ‘bleeding edge Japan’ doesn’t seem so ‘bleeding edge’ after all.