What is happening to Apple?

[banjo_boy]

Apple is having a hard time playing nice to their resellers, which are very loyal to them. Dell and MicroCenter just removed themselves from the"friends of Apple" list. I know it's only ".3 percent" of ALL the sales but WHO CARES! It is helpful to have friends! You invest in them, they invest in you.

Apple can not get products ready for sales when they are announced. If they release hardware, it is almost always 4-6 weeks to shippment, then to find out that's not true. If software, we get betas. I am not talking about the OS or Final Cut. I am talking about the stuff EVERYONE uses: Safari, iCal, etc.

Apple is having a very hard time keeping many peoples' interests up. What has been the most earth-shaking thing they have released recently. To me, it's either 10.2 or the new model iMac. And when did those come out...? And what was big before them? iPod.

For a company that is supposed to be on "the cutting edge", this stinks. The first Superdrive. La-Di-Frinkin'-Da! PCs had those a week later at latest (as components, not built-in). Flat screens! Whahoo! Haven't seen those with PCs before!?!

 

[serpicolugnut]

Settle down, Beavis.

Dell, Frys and Microcenter have all just signed on the dotted line and will continue to sell Apple schwag.

I do agree with you though, that Apple's contract (if the reports are true) put quite a bit of strain on resellers, especially the smaller ones like Elite Computers, who is now suing Apple for $5million...

 

[banjo_boy]

Originally posted by serpicolugnut
Settle down, Beavis.

Watch it, serpicolugnut-head!

Originally posted by serpicolugnut
Dell, Frys and Microcenter have all just signed on the dotted line and will continue to sell Apple schwag.

Sorry, I did misread the article:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...l__others_re_sign_retail_contracts_with_apple

But, for crying out loud! Does anyone know if Apple has a plan for anything? The past couple years seem like they have been flying by the seat of their pants.

Can someone please clarify what they are trying to do besides trying to take a nosedive?

 

[serpicolugnut]

But, for crying out loud! Does anyone know if Apple has a plan for anything? The past couple years seem like they have been flying by the seat of their pants.

Well, judging from their actions it looks like they do have a plan. That plan seems to be that Apple will tighten the screws on it's retail suppliers, while at the same time broadening it's own retail strategy to compensate. Apple wants not only to control the entire product widget (hardware, OS, software), but they also want to control the delivery method.

I can't remember where I read it this week, but one story had the quote - "If Steve Jobs could find a way to economically cut Airborne Express out of the picture, Apple would choose to control the shipping process too", or something to that effect.

The bottom line - Apple has decided, previous contracts be damned, that they are going to take more control in the distribution method of their products. Right or wrong, it's clearly the direction in which they are headed....

 

[kendall]

The Windows iPod is currently outselling the Mac version so it would be pretty stupid of Apple to alienate Dell and Target seeing as they are probably Apple's #1 channels of distribution for the iPod.

http://www.mactechsource.com recently liquidated a lot of Mac inventory on eBay. Perhaps Apple think it has it made in the shade now with 50+ Apple Stores but these resellers are what kept Apple alive through the years.

What Apple has turned to doing is dumping its inventory onto resellers then releasing updates leaving them stuck with the older stuff which just dropped in price 15-20%. You rarely see Apple selling older models but all of the resellers do because they've been stuck with them.

 

[Rhino_G3]

As far as being "cutting edge"
Apple was recently applauded as being the major push for wireless networks.

Something similar has been happening with LCD displays. It's not the fact that they had never been used before. Apple is pushing them into the range of the average consumer.

If you do look at the timeframe that many PC's get a component it's already been available for the mac.

 

[kbata]

I know everyone hold Apple to a higher standard but give them a break. They delayed the 17" Powerbook two weeks and everyone gets upset. Even though they call Safari a beta it's by far the most polished web browser on the Mac side. When was the last time Dell introduced anything exciting in hardware or software? The bigest problem at Apple is the precieved speed of their coputers due to the G4's Mhz speed. Once they get the 970's shipping they will be in good shape.