Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Mac Mini prices slashed after two weeks? Mac Mini disappears from Target? It's like a game of MadLibs.
I've made myself promise not to write about the Mac Mini on consecutive days because at this point I'm tired of hearing about it, tired of reading about it, and mostly, tired of writing about it. There are in fact more interesting topics out there. But something bizarre happened today that merits at least a few words, and don't worry, I'll try to be brief (well, at least brief by my standards)...
It seems that a mere two weeks after announcing the Mac Mini, Apple has slashed the pricing for nearly all of the Mac Mini's build-to-order upgrade packages. The $499/$599 base pricing for the two standard models has not changed, but as of today, the larger hard drive option, the AirPort/Bluetooth option, and the gigabyte of RAM option are each about 30-40% cheaper than they were yesterday. And as the mind races at what could possibly be going on here, I can think of three different possibilities for this move. I'm not necessarily saying that any of these possibilities is accurate or even plausible, but here they are nonetheless, in no particular order, with particular emphasis on any one over the other:
1) Apple is not happy with the number of orders that have been placed for the Mac Mini thus far, and has made this move in an attempt to boost sales.
2) Apple is happy with the number of orders that have been placed for the Mac Mini thus far, but is not happy with the percentage of Mac Mini customers who are (or rather, are not) opting for build-to-order upgrade packages, and has made this move in an attempt to increase this percentage.
3) Apple's plan all along was to milk the early eager buyers by charging them inflated prices for the upgrade packages, and the pricing has now been reduced to accommodate a wider market.
It's probably worth noting that if Apple were planning on doing #3, it would likely have waited longer than a mere two weeks before making the planned price reductions. So I guess that leaves #1 and #2. And for Apple's sake, I sure hope it's #2.
Oh, and just to add to the weirdness, it appears that Target, who last week began selling the Mac Mini online, and then began doing so at a ten percent discount, is now no longer selling the Mac Mini at all. Apparently, "Target has totally removed all mention of the mini from its site and provided no reason for pulling the items."
So that's it, I officially give up on trying to figure out what's going on with the Mac Mini. Product gets announced, prices are slashed after fourteen...days. Product goes on sale, disappears the following...week. I flew away on my...coffee table and landed in a...popsicle. Come on, you have to admit that at this point, it's difficult to figure out which headlines about the Mac Mini are real and which ones are made up. Today's developments read like a game of MadLibs.
Might as well have some fun with it, I guess. I'd much rather have written about something else today, but hey, it's a slow news day. My copy of iWork was supposed to arrive today, and I was all set to write about how much fun I was having with it. But since it didn't arrive after all, I'm left playing MadLibs.
There's a new OS X security update released today, if you're into that sort of thing. Don't say I never did anything for ya.
I've made myself promise not to write about the Mac Mini on consecutive days because at this point I'm tired of hearing about it, tired of reading about it, and mostly, tired of writing about it. There are in fact more interesting topics out there. But something bizarre happened today that merits at least a few words, and don't worry, I'll try to be brief (well, at least brief by my standards)...
It seems that a mere two weeks after announcing the Mac Mini, Apple has slashed the pricing for nearly all of the Mac Mini's build-to-order upgrade packages. The $499/$599 base pricing for the two standard models has not changed, but as of today, the larger hard drive option, the AirPort/Bluetooth option, and the gigabyte of RAM option are each about 30-40% cheaper than they were yesterday. And as the mind races at what could possibly be going on here, I can think of three different possibilities for this move. I'm not necessarily saying that any of these possibilities is accurate or even plausible, but here they are nonetheless, in no particular order, with particular emphasis on any one over the other:
1) Apple is not happy with the number of orders that have been placed for the Mac Mini thus far, and has made this move in an attempt to boost sales.
2) Apple is happy with the number of orders that have been placed for the Mac Mini thus far, but is not happy with the percentage of Mac Mini customers who are (or rather, are not) opting for build-to-order upgrade packages, and has made this move in an attempt to increase this percentage.
3) Apple's plan all along was to milk the early eager buyers by charging them inflated prices for the upgrade packages, and the pricing has now been reduced to accommodate a wider market.
It's probably worth noting that if Apple were planning on doing #3, it would likely have waited longer than a mere two weeks before making the planned price reductions. So I guess that leaves #1 and #2. And for Apple's sake, I sure hope it's #2.
Oh, and just to add to the weirdness, it appears that Target, who last week began selling the Mac Mini online, and then began doing so at a ten percent discount, is now no longer selling the Mac Mini at all. Apparently, "Target has totally removed all mention of the mini from its site and provided no reason for pulling the items."
So that's it, I officially give up on trying to figure out what's going on with the Mac Mini. Product gets announced, prices are slashed after fourteen...days. Product goes on sale, disappears the following...week. I flew away on my...coffee table and landed in a...popsicle. Come on, you have to admit that at this point, it's difficult to figure out which headlines about the Mac Mini are real and which ones are made up. Today's developments read like a game of MadLibs.
Might as well have some fun with it, I guess. I'd much rather have written about something else today, but hey, it's a slow news day. My copy of iWork was supposed to arrive today, and I was all set to write about how much fun I was having with it. But since it didn't arrive after all, I'm left playing MadLibs.
There's a new OS X security update released today, if you're into that sort of thing. Don't say I never did anything for ya.
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