Apple Low End Laptop? Call Me Back When You Sober Up

There are some go to Mac articles but the all time favorite seems to be: Macs cost too much, if Apple ever really wants to compete with the likes of Dell they'll have to crank out a cheap laptop that doesn't cost eleventy bazillion dollars

Maybe they have a point, so we'll run through the comparison exercize one more time, but let's switch it up a little. Instead of going Dell -v- Apple let's go Dell -v- Mystery Manufacturer. Heck, maybe someone even out cheaps Dell or costs as much as Apple

Here's the specs Hadley came up with:

Dell Inspiron 15 ($554)

Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
3 GB Ram
250GB SATA HD @5400 rpm
4 Cell Battery
15.6 inch screen 1366x76

That's a lot of computer for the money! But let's bring on the mystery machine

Intel Core Duo 2.26 GHz 

2 GB of RAM (Loser!)

160 GB hard drive (Loser!)

6 cell battery (winner, winner, chicken dinner!)

Intel Graphics accelerator 4500MHD (← That's important! I guess...)

13.3 inch screen (1280 by 800 LED)

Clearly this computer is a giant piece of crap compared to the Dell. I mean the specs are worse across the board. How much would you be willing to pay for this cow flop of a computer? You better be willing to pay $1,796 because that is the retail price (special discount right now -$449 for a total of $1,347). Though it is $50 bucks extra for XP instead of Vista (I'll admit, I like Vista better than XP so I didn't count that)

What the hell, before we reveal the mystery machine let's take a look at the Mac, the silver one.

Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz

Nvidia 9400 M (← That's important I guess)

13.3 inch screen (1280 by 800 LED)

2 GB of RAM

160 GB Hard Drive

45 watt battery (5 hours)

Price: $1,29

Well the MacBook does compare nicely to the mystery machine (who wants a van anyway) but, let's face it, it is completley blown away by the Dell. Apple, and the other manufacturer simply can't touch Dell when it comes to price

So who is this mystery manufacturer that has the gall to sell Windows based machine so completely out of line with what consumers really want? You're thinking Sony, right? Maybe some super stylish offering from Lenovo? Nope, those specs are for a Dell Latitude E4300. So Dell crushes Dell. (The only reason I looked this machine up is because my wife's employer just sent her one).

What can be learned from this comparison? The first thing you should take away from this is that the $1300 price point is popular with computer manufacturers the second thing you should realize is that this is the market Apple is after, not the $500 lappy market

Back to the question of rather or not Macs are overpriced. In his piece Hadley wrote, and I quote (you can tell by the curly lines)

"If all these different companies are able to make a laptop that sells for $500 then Apple should."

A bold statement. This is the kind of thinking kids use when they get caught doing something wrong: 

"Why did you cut the drapes into ribbons?"

"Little Johnny was doing it!

And we all remember the response from Mom:

"If Little Johnny was shooting smack in a corner would you do it to?"

To which those of us about to whipped by a section of hotwheels track replied:

"I don't know, did he look like he was having fun?

Just because other companies do it doesn't make it a good idea. But Hadley has some more to say, he has a rationale behind his urging

"As the recession increases, and Windows 7 comes out these differences are going to be more and more glaring. At some point the extra revenue Apple makes with higher margins will get lost in reduced sales."

Cripes, the recession increasing? Economic prognostications from an Apple site? A bit too much protesting one suspects. Hadley might want to consider organizing a Apple tea party or something!

Here's the rub: there isn't an Apple tax anymore than there is a Dell tax. Before one side jumps up and starts yammering about specs or the other side starts BMW-Yugo comparisons it needs to be realized that it isn't about specs or about cases carved out of aluminium ingots. It is all about profit maximization, supply and demand.

While Steve won't return my calls Apple's demand curve probably looks something like a pretty flat line that suddenly tapers off. That is to say that demand for Macs isn't impacted by low price, Apple might sell a few more machines at $500 but the increase in sales won't make up for lost profits.

Hadley was adamant though, if Apple doesn't do something soon people will be buying cheap ass computers instead of Macs! The specs! THE SPECS! Macs have always cost more than Windows based machines according to convential wisdom and the reason Windows won wasn't because it was somehow better, it was because it was cheaper thanks to the evil triumverate of Intel, Dell and Microsoft

Weird thing is that even though Macs are a bazillion times the price Mac marketshare is doing fine. Screaming that Apple needs to match low priced offerings from other manufacturers at this point is like telling someone catching up in a marathon to slow the hell down because the leaders are running at a slower pace than they are. 

If you want cheaper Macs hope for less Macs sold because that's the only way you'll get them. As long as Apple is growing Mac marketshare going "low end" not only doesn't make any sense it would positively stupid. There was a time when cutting prices likely would have helped Mac marketshare but those days are long gone.