08/06/2008, 4:10pm, EDT
Wednesday, August 6th
New iPods, MacBooks to grace Apple Sept. event
An upcoming September event should herald both new iPods and new MacBooks, argue analysts with Piper Jaffray. The firm notes that Apple has hosted similar events for the past three years, and the company has particular incentive to upgrade hardware this year. Because the iPhone has been reduced in price to as little $199, it is suggested that the iPod touch may follow suit, and could in fact be redesigned. Crucially, Apple has been giving away 8GB Touches to students buying Macs, and talk has circulated of the company ramping down current-generation production.
The basic MacBook is said to be long overdue for a redesign, according to Piper, as it has had the same general layout since its debut two years ago; the MacBook Pro is said to be in worse shape still, having held the same design for two and a half years, while still resembling the even older PowerBook G4. In the case of the regular MacBook, Piper says that Apple may attempt to bring the price to the psychologically important $999 barrier.
Investors interested in exploiting a September announcement are reminded that during the last three years, stock has risen an average of 4 percent between the week before an event and the week after. The greatest growth occurs on a longer scale, rising 47 percent between the week before and four months afterwards.
Filed under: iPod, Investor, computers, Apple
Other story tags: MacBook
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i never have understood
why Apple releases in September for school? Do they think nobody plans ahead, and actually shops in August in advance of school starting?
It's the same with their spring releases. They always seem to release new machines just after schools make their purchases for the fall season, instead of just before.
Weird.
missed a word
post missed the word "understood" in the subject of my post
[and this post should have "missed a word" as the subject].
point is
Apple clears the channel of older models they can afford to sell at lower prices for education then announces new models as top dollar for the following year.
bring on...
the new aluminum mac books. Been waiting for a good replacement for my old G4 12 inch powerbook. But would be nice if a quad core came out for the macbook pro's too.
Macbook/Pro
I may be convinced to pick up a MBP if it's good enough... to upgrade my 2.5 year old one. Even a reg macbook would be OK if it has a 128mb graphic chip. This integrated stuff doesn't cut it with me.
That and an iPhone in Oct.
ipod touch
I'm hopefull for an ipod touch that will have decent storage. I dont understand why Apple would release an ipod with a large screen that you can watch videos on yet limits the amount of videos you can store on it.
I mean come on, would you rather wathc videos on a classic or a touch?
Snacky
Sigh.
Desktops, DESKTOPS, DESKTOPS!!!!
Re: Not weird
Students want deals. Apple doesn't want to give a deal on a newly announced product.
The problem, though, is Apple doesn't discount these items. They don't do close-out sales. The only discount they offer is in the edu store, and that is there for new items too.
And Free ipods is a deal, but its not a helpful one. A deal would be a discount. Offer up $200-$300 off a product, not "Hey, sure, you're going off to school, and money's tight, but we want you to buy our computers at full price! But, even though you probably already have an iPod or two, we'll give you another one for free if you buy now".
And just imagine the look on those kids faces when they get their new ipod, and realize they still have to spend $20 to get the app store ability. Talk about milking your customers.
A discount is $200 off. All Apple is doing is trying to clear the channel by alienating a group of people with their "really soon to be outdated with something better for the same price", and then tacking on a 'free' ipod touch, which Apple is giving away to further fill their pockets with appstore buys (let alone the person still needing to fork over $20 just to get app usage).
It might be 'good business' to set this up to clear inventory. The question must be raised, though, whether it is a long-term smart move.