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May 25, 2006
The Apple Core: Apples and Oranges
With machines like the MacBook Apple has come a long way in closing the price gap between it and its PC competitors. But there's still a large divide with some of their peripherals that is simply too hard to justify, specifically: monitors.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.
Posted by jasonogrady at May 25, 2006 11:12 AM
Category: The Apple Core
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Comments
I got a Dell 20" widescreen, $385, Apple's 20" $799.
Posted by: lava at May 25, 2006 9:53 PM
Apple customers (and their products) are not as price sensitive as Dell customers (and their products) are. As a result, Apple can charge a premium for their products. Dell's products are "inferior" and is priced accordingly to sell. The look and feel of Apple's products allow Apple to charge (or overcharge) their customers more. As long as Apple customers are willing to pay, Apple is going to charge. Dell cannot afford to do that. Dell cannot beat Apple with a better product, so they have to offer a better price.
The premium is the reason why Apple's stock is going through the roof (as compared to Dell's stock tanking).
BTW: The Dell 2405 FPW monitor was available last previously for $639 delivered. $999 - 30% off coupon - $60 stackable coupon = $639 w/ free shipping. If you want an fugly Dell logo monitor, then I suggest you wait.
Posted by: Michael Dell at May 26, 2006 11:54 AM
Yes, the Dell monitors are fugly, but not fugly enough to justify the huge price gap.
A CRT has been on my desk beside my Mac mini for the longest time. I was waiting for prices to come down on the Apple monitors for what now seems like forever.
Ben's Bargains (and DealNews) recently let people know that Dell had the 20-inch widescreen for $358 pre-tax with free shipping. The specs are superior to Apple's (esp. contrast ratio). I bought mine on May 22; $389 shipped to my door.
Apple's 20-inch monitor is $799. Even with my Education discount for staff, it is still $699. I can't justify that much of a premium (esp. since as an academic staff member, I can barely pay my rent).
The Dell monitor is certainly not pretty, but the USB ports are in a more convenient location (on the side) than on Apple's monitor as well.
I figure that it will last me until cheap display technologies like OLED become widely available.
BTW. My CRT was also a Dell -- a beige 19-inch Sony Trinitron that I got from our University surplus store for $39. I used Soft Scrub cleanser to take the Dell logo off. The Dell logo on my new monitor is molded plastic, and will be a bit more difficult to remove.
Posted by: Michael at May 27, 2006 12:47 AM
