[geeks] Article: Sun's not so cheap trick doesn't work

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 06:09:48PM +0100, Mike Meredith wrote:

>I'm not so sure the profits of the computer division are that small in
>comparison to the other products. They may sell in smaller numbers, but
>the margins are likely to be bigger.

When I was designing hand held devices, we did some cost and profit research.
The profit in selling a "name brand" computer is not as high as you would
think, around 10%. Apple of course makes more money if you buy it from their
phone order system or in an Apple store, but they have a much larger cost then.

>
>That's the danger of course. Concentrating on 'core' business (or what
>the shareholders see as the core business) is problematic if that core
>fails to grow. And of course some people predict the market for media
>players/phones will become saturated although Apple has some pretty
>nasty tricks to keep their consumers coming back for more (non
>replaceable batteries).

That won't last long. Look at what happened with the original iPod. I have a
Motorola phone with a "take the phone apart with a torx screwdriver" battery
in it. It an a twin of it have new batteries thanks to a soldering iron,
electrical tape and spare batteries I had for something else. Otherwise they
would have been recycled long ago. My wife had the next model and when
she replaced it, my son got it, this one had a user replaceable battery.

I'm sure Motorola lost a lot of repeat sales because of it. I'm a real
bastard about battery design. I want my batteries to be replaced in the
field without taking the device apart and the batteries have to be intrinsicly
safe (won't catch fire if you short the terminals).

However I've always said, as genius is as he is Steve Jobs does not understand
batteries. I'd say it here (I just did) and if I were in a meeting with him
or even a job interview, I'd say it to his face.


>> interface with it or not. Expectation that people buying iPods,
>> iTunes and iPhones would convince them to buy a Mac, and either
>> convert some or all of their functions to MacOS has not been
>> realized.
>
>Regional differences perhaps? Certainly if I look at the cybercafC)
>across the street there's a 50% chance that the person with a
>laptop in the window will be using a Mac. And it certainly wasn't like
>that a few years ago. Hardly scientific but I do get the impression
>that Macs are getting sold to places where they wouldn't do before.

I'm sure they sell a lot to people with money, but it depends upon where.
I was looking through the weekend paper, and a Macbook air costs $3000
here. I can but a no-name 10 inch (which is better for me because of weight)
for less than $750. For $1000 I can get a similar small screen HP.

I know they are not the same, but they are competing products.

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM