MacRumors is reporting that during Apple’s Q3 2009 conference call held earlier today, several analysts asked Apple executives if they were considering entering the NetBook market. Their response was no shock, because we’ve heard it before. To put it flatly, Apple doesn’t plan on entering that market unless they can figure out a way to make a product they were proud of.
The most groundbreaking news to come out of the conference call today was that Apple is in fact working on a different App ranking system. The current ranking system has been called a “race to the bottom”, meaning prices are artificially low as a way to compete for the most unit sales. The top 100 list in the App Store is currently the premiere place for marketing apps.
I think MacRumors sums it up nicely:
These Top 100 ranks are based on unit sales rather than revenue and are therefore skewed towards lower priced applications. As a result, apps have had to compete with lower prices in order to try to boost their exposure on these lists. Critics of this system have argued that this encourages a “$0.99 economy” which will prevent companies from investing in higher quality titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apple revealed that they are “looking for ways to categorize apps differently” and that there was “opportunity for further improvement and [they] are working on that”.
So, in short, Apple doesn’t plan to enter the netbook market, and they are working on a ways to promote higher priced apps on the App Store.
Mockup courtesy of nexus404.com.
Taiwanese news site InfoTimes (translation via MacRumors) is reporting that Apple is currently placing component orders to Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wintek, and Dynapack. All of this will be used in turn, to put the long rumored touchscreen netbook into production.
According to the source, this new product will have a 9.7-inch screen, substantially smaller than the industry standard (10.1 to 10.2-inch). Here’s an excerpt from MacRumors:
According to reliable information, Apple will not follow the current market trend (by producing netbooks with screens about 10.2 or 10.1 inches in diagonal length.) Instead, Apple will produce screens with about 9.7 inches in diagonal length. Touch screen will be installed. Wintek will be the main manufacturer of the touch screen.
Few other details are available, but it is believed it will sell for $800. Here’s yet another excerpt:
Because Apple will adopt touch screen technology on its netbooks, Apple will not target low-end consumers, avoiding direct competition with Acer, Asus, as well as their less-than-500-dollars netbooks. Apple?s netbook (or a “tablet” as many call it,) will probably be sold at around $800 USD each.
I still don’t buy it. Granted, I’m very skeptical, and there is mounting evidence, I still don’t buy into this idea. Apple has repeatedly stated that they aren’t looking at entering the netbook market. Just because they say they won’t, doesn’t mean they won’t, I know. Something just seems off about this.
During today’s financial conference call acting CEO Tim Cook gave a similar answer to a question Apple has been asked before. Are you pursuing the netbook market?
The answer as it appears, is Apple at this time has no plans to enter that market, citing reasons such as small screens and cramped keyboards. That said, Apple is still reportedly looking at the space. Cook did suggest that if Apple does find a way to deliver an innovative product that makes a real contribution, Apple will pursue it.
See these are the same reasons Apple had against the netbook in the first place, and so that’s why the MacBook Air it designed the way it is. Light weight, but no compromise elsewhere.
Image courtesy of nexus404.com. It’s a mockup so don’t get excited.
Gartner has published a report detailing U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for Q1 of 2009. The report places Apple’s U.S. market share in fourth place among computer manufactures at 7.4%, down slightly from 8.0% in Q4 of 2008. It’s difficult to compare the busy holiday (Q4) quarter next to the slower post-holiday quarter (Q1) so for better comparison the first quarter of 2008 had Apple holding 7.5% of the U.S. market share, again comparing that to Q1 of 2008.
Apple’s U.S. computer shipments declined 1.1% compared to the year-ago quarter. This is higher than the overall U.S. industry decline of 0.3%. Gartner also says that the entire computer industry performed better than expected due to the serge in popularity of the netbook market. This is a wedge of the computer market that Apple has no showing, thus may be a reason for the decline in market share.
Gartner also goes on to say that the average selling price of computers sold in Q1 of 2009 may have dropped as much as 20%, again due the decrease in sales of other more expensive machines, but the increase sales of the relatively inexpensive netbooks. Although Apple’s market share has slipped, its gross revenue and profits appear as if they are going to be largely unaffected.
I’m not going to lie, this sounds about right. Companies are losing money because of the economic climate, and Apple is, at least according to this data, losing money by not being in the netbook arena. That said, I also believe the reason (or at least one of them) for the popularity of the netbook is the economic crisis. Need a new computer? Want one for cheap? Netbook.
Charts courtesy of MacRumors.
We hear them all the time, rumors of Apple’s new netbook or the new touchscreen tablet or even a new iPhone. This time is just like the others, only there is more information present. SmartHouse is an Australian blog about products for the home. They have released a rumor they claim to be true about a partnership of Apple with LG for an OLED display. They report that a source they spoke to as told them there will be a netbook released by Apple and that there is already a prototype in the open. They are telling us that LG reported a 25% increase in OLED R&D and that they are going to invest three billion dollar into the project. The site claims that Apple has already put up $500 million for new display technologies. Last month blogs across the blogosphere reported that Apple was ordering new touchscreens with a surface that repels finger prints and oils. SmartHouse is also saying that Apple is trying to get a thin OLED for use in a future version of the Apple TV. Personally I think this is a bit far-fetched to hear all this news at once. Do you really think that Apple would let this kind of information leak? Do you honestly think they would release all these products? I’m hopeful that they are getting new iPhones and iPod Touches, and begging for a netbook, but the Apple TV thing is taking it too far. The rumors will fly around, but we will never know until the Keynote presentation. Let us know what you think of these rumors in the comment section.
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According to the Commercial Times, the local company Wintek would prepare for the delivery of new touchscreens, which you should be able to find the next autumn in a ‘new netbook’ of Apple. A message from the Chinese media caused some turmoil in the Apple-rumor circuit. Other speculators are keeping it into a larger version of iPod Touch or a tablet computer. Apple itself has denied the launch of such products so far. However.
Reports have been flying around the internet that Apple may have plans for a netbook. This is based on a piece originally in the Taiwan”s Commercial Times. What is confirmed in the report is that the touch-screen maker Wintek is working on new touch-screens for Apple. What is not clear is where they will be used. The report indicates that the new touch-screens are scheduled to start shipping by the second half of the year. I would not expect to see anything before Q4 although others have speculated it may be earlier.
Apple has been hesitant to enter the netbook market place sighting that the platform generally is low performance and has a less than ideal form factor, two things every Apple enthusiast can understand.
That being said Apple cannot ignore the popularity of the netbooks and could be poised to leverage new chip technology to keep performance acceptable while using little power.
We have several months time between now and then so I am sure that if this report turns out to be true there will be more reports confirming what Apple may have in the works.
Next month will bring the long-awaited January Macworld Expo. As always, the internet is full of speculation regarding what Apple will and won’t unveil. Among the rumors are new Mac Minis, an iPhone Nano, and Netbooks. The final two I believe are rumors that will never die. At least until (and if) Apple does release them.
Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research, is an analyst who believes the netbook rumor is one that will indeed turn to truth come the January Expo. He believes that with the popularity netbooks are receiving at the moment, and with the less than bright economy, Apple would unveil not just one, but two netbook options at the conference. Gottheil believes the netbooks would then be on the market around the middle of next year.
Gottheil believes the reason Apple have put off the idea of a netbook, and the reason it’s taken them so long to enter the market, is because they wanted to avoid providing a stripped-down version of the MacBook, and risk losing sales on the current model. He believes Apple needed to create something completely different, something that would not replace the need of a MacBook.
With this in mind, Gottheil says Apple will release a netbook that, similar to the iPhone, will exist in an Apple-controlled “closed system,” where software is downloaded only from the App Store, restores are made through iTunes, and backups are available through a service like MobileMe. He also claims peripheral and add-on choices would be limited. “By controlling the software that can be loaded and the hardware that can be attached, Apple’s device will be simpler, easier to use and more reliable than a PC, and will excel at the functions most required by users,” says Gottheil.
I’m really quite confident that there is a market out there for an Apple netbook. I know many people who would really benefit from having a netbook, but are determined not to leave the Apple OS. For me, the iPhone does the job on the move, and when I need a bit more, my MacBook is small enough to carry around. However I don’t carry it around all day, every day, and for those that do, a netbook would be incredibly helpful.
I’m not sure I like the idea of the “closed system” environment though.
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