• Mac Makes More Profit Than the Entire PC Industry
    185 replies, posted
[IMG]http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/16/mac_profits_are_high_too_high/mac%20profits.png.CROP.article568-large.png[/IMG] [QUOTE]One thing that pops out of this is that even though it's the iPhone and the iPad that make Apple such a giant company, they're pretty much killing it as a PC vendor too. That said, particularly in light of the PC sector's decline in the face of quality improvements and a slowed consumer upgrade cycle, you have to wonder why Apple's corporate strategy involves such high profit margins on Macs. It's clear that profits from iPhone and iPad are more than sufficient to meet Tim Cook's goals in terms of dividends and investments. According to Dediu, Apple earns an average 19 percent operating margin on its Mac sales compared to 4 percent for Dell and less than that for HP, Lenovo, and Acer. A question to ask is whether piling up extra cash in the Braeburn Capital account is a smarter strategic move for Apple than investing in larger market share via lower prices. You could cut Mac prices 15 percent across the board to match Dell's margins. If it were me, though, I'd take a good hard look at really shaking the industry up with a 20 percent price cut. That would reposition the Mac as a loss-leader whose function is to enhance the overall value of the Apple ecosystem. You'd recognize that Mac is nowhere near as important as iOS to Apple's bottom line, but that full-fledged computers are still a strategically significant market segment. A world where Mac has a much larger market share is one in which it's much harder to erode iOS' strengths in the mobile and tablet markets. At some point, Mac market share might grow loud enough that the DOJ or FTC would complain about selling at a loss but there's room for substantial market share growth before that kind of "predatory" pricing would become a real issue.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/16/mac_profits_are_high_too_high.html[/url] makes sense when you consider that 99% of computer users are using a prebuilt computer or a laptop, and Windows PC OEM's (such as Dell, HP, etc) for the last decade or so have been focusing on low cost, cheap boxes that are just enough with no care for luxury or taste. Also who can name a model or series from an OEM? I certainly can't, I don't know what Windows PC models are currently sitting on the shelves of Walmart. The OEM industry needs to be completely revamped.
Shame really the OEM market would be so much better if they simply made better products.. though I guess average joe just uses facebook, youtube, etc. on their pc.
This is Windows 8's fault, obviously...
Obviously when you sell $1500 computers for your lower end models you're going to make more.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40309907]This is Windows 8's fault, obviously...[/QUOTE] i'm sure you're being sarcastic, but it could actually be a factor.
This is literal proof that Macs are over priced. Look at those profit margins
[QUOTE=kurry;40309904]Shame really the OEM market would be so much better if they simply made better products[/QUOTE] exactly, look at phones, ask a random person what are good smartphones. They say "iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy III, Lumia 920" it goes on. Ask someone the same question but with Macs, they go "iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air" ask them with Windows PC's? they go "ummmm uhhhhh"
Well, there's one company for Macs and many more for PCs. Of course they're going to make more than any single PC company. The fact that they're making more profit than the PC industry is because they do things on the cheap more (wasn't there a scandal about Apple using child labor a while back?) and jack the prices up to hell. Of course, their computers are a bit more 'accessible' to someone who's not used to computers, so they've also got that going for them.
Big 5 manufacturers =!= entire PC industry If an "other" category is added for the rest of the manufacturers, and Apple still beats the PC out in profit margins, then we'll talk.
[QUOTE=meppers;40309938]This is literal proof that Macs are over priced. Look at those profit margins[/QUOTE] actually their macbooks are not, because rival Windows ultrabooks are similarly priced but still never have as good touchpads
[QUOTE=TMBGFan;40309958] The fact that they're making more profit than the PC industry is because they do things on the cheap more (wasn't there a scandal about Apple using child labor a while back?) and jack the prices up to hell. [/QUOTE] This mainly stems from Foxconn's practices in China. They also make a huge proportion of parts found in windows computers.
[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;40309925]i'm sure you're being sarcastic, but it could actually be a factor.[/QUOTE] Yeah, its only part sarcasm. Windows 8 has demonstratably impacted the PC market, on top of the general migration of casual users to tablets. Not surprising that Mac is doing better, their customer base isn't going anywhere.
If only OEM companies would make quality computers with absolutely no bloatware, a man can dream.
It's kinda hilarious how people are acting like Apple's profits are higher because of some inherent quality to them when the reality is they're just extremely overpriced - Asus products for example have consistently higher reliability than Macs, but the difference is they sell at much lower markup.
[QUOTE=Amez;40310072]If only OEM companies would make quality computers with absolutely no bloatware, a man can dream.[/QUOTE] vizio laptops. apparently they aren't quite as the same build quality as mac's (goddamn mac trackpads) but no bloatware
[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;40309975]Big 5 manufacturers =!= entire PC industry If an "other" category is added for the rest of the manufacturers, and Apple still beats the PC out in profit margins, then we'll talk.[/QUOTE] And what about people building their pcs themselves? I guess the numbers only apply to laptops and pre-built pcs?
They're overpriced and not the best product on the market...
[QUOTE=meppers;40309938]This is literal proof that Macs are over priced. Look at those profit margins[/QUOTE] Gotta disagree... Apple makes quality products, and there are plenty of people with enough money to spend on $2000 computers (I remember the iPhone itself was worth more than microsoft as a whole). Yeh they are pricey, but theres a large amount of people who think its worth it (i think macs are awesome, and would get one right away if i could afford it) also used to own a used imac from 2007 or 2008, loved it but got a sweet deal and and made about $150 profit selling it a couple years later. Luckily windows has the "gaming platform" or else i would have probably not sold it. edit: macs have bootcamp, if your willing to buy a copy of the windows OS (which is really cool!)
The profit margins are like that because the OS isn't sold seperately, and thus doesn't have a 'price' so they've likely just set it to zero. How much is the OS worth? I'd wager it's worth more than Windows OS.
But how can they be good at anything??? I don't like them!!!
Apple was using OEM's back in the 90's and it almost destroyed the company. Almost all of the OEM systems were pure shit.
Macs are overpriced, that's the only reason.
[QUOTE=MIPS;40310405]Apple was using OEM's back in the 90's and it almost destroyed the company. Almost all of the OEM systems were pure shit.[/QUOTE] Imagine if OEM's never existed, you could either buy a prebuilt made by the OS maker or build your own. There'd be allot less computer issues and shit computers
Holy shit look at that Apple profit margin... I'm not afraid to pay for quality (I always bought BFG nVidia cards because of that kickass warranty) but that's absurd.
[QUOTE=garychencool;40310422]Macs are overpriced, that's the only reason.[/QUOTE] It is most definitely not the only reason furthermore calling them overpriced isn't an objective statement so it can't even be a valid, factual reason in the first place
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40310662]Imagine if OEM's never existed, you could either buy a prebuilt made by the OS maker or build your own. There'd be allot less computer issues and shit computers[/QUOTE] I disagree heavily. At the moment, I can go and get a laptop that for the same hardware costs less than a Mac, and [url=http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf]is FACTUALLY more reliable[/url]. Would it be the same way if only Microsoft was making windows laptops/desktops? Hard to say, I've had some good hardware from Microsoft but either way I'm happier with having choice.
[QUOTE=Elspin;40310736]I disagree heavily. At the moment, I can go and get a laptop that for the same hardware costs less than a Mac, and [url=http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf]is FACTUALLY more reliable[/url]. Would it be the same way if only Microsoft was making windows laptops/desktops? Hard to say, I've had some good hardware from Microsoft but either way I'm happier with having choice.[/QUOTE] which models are these? None will have as good a touchpad though
Software costs almost $0 to distribute and copy. A product such as Microsoft Windows, if material costs were the only costs associated, would have a nearly 100% profit margin. With Apple, buy shipping their Hardware with iOS, they technically include the cost of the software within the price tag. The profit margin increases because there is no material costs associated with the software. If this chart included Microsoft's windows sales on laptops, I think it would be more balanced.
[QUOTE=The Baconator;40310761]which models are these? None will have as good a touchpad though[/QUOTE] I don't really care about having the touchpad beyond it functioning properly, what's with the fascination? If I'm doing anything where precisions matters I will be using a proper mouse. My shitty (2.2GHz dual core, 4 gigs of ram, and a Radeon HD3650) Asus laptop from 5 years ago has a pretty decent touchpad and I've used plenty of macbooks and not particularly found anything good about the touchpad. My ex-girlfriend had 100% apple products so I ended up using them fairly frequently over the 3 years we were together. The only thing memorable about them really was how often they fucked up and how much harder it was to fix things when they did [sp]For anyone wondering if I'm 'that guy', I did not hassle her for owning Apple products. It's not my choice what other people buy and I'm just voicing my opinion on what makes a quality product to me[/sp]
something tells me that 5 year old Asus laptop isn't a unibody made of aluminum with a thin, sleek design
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.