As per Steve Jobs’ much referenced “reality distortion field”, Apple seemingly isn’t subject to many of the rules which govern other companies.
As a tablet-fueled holiday price war is breaking out among laptops, Deutsche Bank has noted that Apple is staying out of it entirely — and the strategy seems to be paying off.
Around 60 percent of the 80 best-selling laptops at retailers monitored by Deutsche Bank apparently cost less less than $400 — with 30 percent even dipping below $300.
“We believe this reflects the need for [laptop] vendors to close the pricing gap with tablets which continue to exhibit strong market momentum,” analyst Chris Whitmore noted in a Monday research note.
However, Apple is doing no such thing.
According to Cyber Monday sales, its $1,050 13.3-inch MacBook Pro (non-Retina) was the no. 5 top selling laptop, while it’s $1,400 13.3-inch MacBook Pro Retina was placed No. 10.
“Apple is a best seller and everyone else is playing for scraps at significantly lower price points,” Whitmore continued. “Overall, it appears there is little margin in the Android ecosystem but volumes are robust due to very low price points.”
It might hardly be news that Apple charges a premium for its products, but it’s interesting to note just how great the gulf is between Apple and its competitors — as well as the fact that the iPad is seemingly doing little to cannibalize MacBook popularity, despite the tablet market causing a general downtrend in laptop prices among other manufacturers.
Source: CNet
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
