Apple rarely competes on low prices, but a new report claims that Cupertino may be planning an all-out pricing assault on the second generation of Ultrabook computers by introducing an even cheaper MacBook Air in Q3 2012.
DigiTimes is reporting that Apple is not about to sit idly by and watch the Ultrabook market chew into its MacBook Air market share. According to “sources from the upstream supply chain,” Apple may fire back against the second generation of Ultrabooks with a cheaper MacBook Air priced to move at $799.
“Although Acer has recently reduced its ultrabook shipment target, Intel continues to aggressively push Ultrabooks and is aiming to have the devices priced at US$699 in the second half of the year,” the sources reveal. “However, if Intel is unable to bring down ASPs to its goal, the price gap between Ultrabooks and the US$799 MacBook Air may further postpone the time Ultrabooks become standardized.”
For its part, Ultrabook chip maker Intel has set aside $300 million for the diminutive notebooks and another $100 million to develop its own store to sell applications. However, sources believe that Ultrabooks may not gain significant traction in the market until Microsoft releases Windows 8 later this year.
Apple’s MacBook Air currently starts at $999 for the 11-inch edition and tops out at $1599 for a 13-inch, 256GB model. Sources claim that shifting the base model to $799 -- or introducing an even cheaper refreshed model of the same -- is a strategy that “will damage Ultrabooks, allowing Apple to continue to press its advantage.”
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greyone
May 08, 2012 at 9:23am
The combining form deci- comes from the Latin decimus, meaning one-tenth.
The verb decimate originated in Roman times, wherein a Roman General — as punishment for cowardice or mutiny among his men — would divide them into groups of ten and select one, by lottery, for execution. Although decimate is (now) commonly used to imply significant damage or destruction, it is generally agreed that decimate should not be used to mean 'defeat utterly." So, technically, if the putative $799 Air displaced only one in ten "Ultrabooks", it would be an abject failure. Perhaps a better title for the article might be 'Apple Intends To Annihilate Every Crappy Windows Portable That Mysteriously And Inexplicably Finds Its Way To The Marketplace.'
Scion of Tytehran
May 13, 2012 at 10:16am
There is someone else in the world who knows this! I've been telling people for years what decimate actually means until someone looked it up and I found the definition had actually been changed to mean annihilate. I hate when they dumb things down this way instead of people getting smarter.
Still, I wonder if Apple will do this. Their strategy has never really been attempting to get into every little niche to squeeze out that last dime of profit but who knows. With Tim now at the helm he may investigate other strategies that Steve wouldn't.
brandonwalkermedia
May 07, 2012 at 3:13pm
"YOU CAN'T MAKE A COMPUTER UNDER $1000, THAT IS NOT A PIECE OF JUNK" - Steve Jobs
That being said things are now cheaper to make so it "MAY" be possible, But don't hold your breath!
Personally i don't think it will happen, mainly because Apple NEVER sacrifices Quality for price, & will not do so ANY time soon.
