Economy, more than Apple, leads to Windows laptop price drops

The dream of an US$800 Mac notebook has been deferred. So what are Windows manufacturers going to do about it? Industry watchers predict they will keep cutting prices, but Apple is only part of the reason.

It's mostly the economy.

Last week, the anticipated across-the-board price cuts for Apple's new line of MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops fell short of analyst and blogger predictions.

But Apple has amassed such a broad and loyal high-end buyer base that it can hang tight on prices and get away with it, perhaps even flourish, in an economy teetering on a recession.

Apple may be its own breed (this week it reported record quarterly sales for both Macs and iPhones), but still it seems logical to think that Apple's decision not to budge on pricing, paired with an economy forcing tech buyers and consumers to be frugal, puts Windows OEMs in a great position to sell more units.

"There are more choices for Windows so this could hurt potential Apple buyers," says J.P. Gownder, an analyst at Forrester who covers consumer product strategy. "Ultimately, Apple's decision not to cut prices could be a net win for Windows OEMs. They will be able to keep people who were on the fence about switching to a Mac."

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine