Apple Still Doesn’t Get It
- 6
- Add a Comment
In the recent media, Apple has revealed that this year’s Macworld Conference and Expo, will be the final it will appear for. The keynotes presented here by Steve Jobs, and his friends, have unleashed some of the most influential products, such as the Apple TV, the iPhone, and new generations of the iPod, and the Macintosh Computer.
This is quite a change for Apple, signifying for some people, their loss of the “underdog” status. Others however, are seeing the move as arrogant, as Apple turns its back on the idea of gathering all their developers, resellers, and enthusiasts, and showcasing new ideas and products, in an exciting way. It is also seen as a betrayal to one of Apple’s biggest supporters, Macworld itself. Macworld was started in 1984, as a magazine, but has since moved onto formats such as their website, and their conference/expo. With the removal of a main element from the expo, its situation has been the subject of much speculation.
My Question is, Why?
There is no real reasoning for this to happen. An article published by Yahoo! Finance yesterday doesn’t give a very good prediction of the Mac’s future.
The analyst said the numbers are a sign that Apple’s iMac line needs to be refreshed. The company’s desktop computers saw a 38 percent sales decline, compared with a 15 percent decline for Windows desktop PCs.
Apple’s declining desktop sales could also be a sign that consumers are becoming more price conscious amid the deepening recession. Apple’s computers are more expensive than their Windows counterparts.
If this is the prediction, that the current recession, which has made interest rates fall to nearly zero percent, is going to make consumers more dollar conscious, then Apple needs to keep communicating with their customers, not remove themselves from the biggest fan club a hardware company has seen.
6 Comments
sbirmingham
December 17th, 2008
at 11:51am
No, I think you are missing the point. Tradeshows themselves are dying. Apple can announce a press conference at their headquarters, have hundreds of reporters show up, and then post the whole thing on the internet. The exact same level of PR, all for a tiny fraction of the cost of going to a tradeshow.
Apple announced they also were no longer going to attend NAB. Doomsayers said that Apple was going to kill off Final Cut. Wrong. Proved wrong when Avid also said they were no longer attending NAB. Tradeshows just do not make sense anymore.
Jim Stead
December 17th, 2008
at 12:09pm
Let’s see. At the peak of the Mac rumor mills and Apple’s involvement with trade shows, etc, their sales and profitability were *how much*, compared to now when the rumors and involvement are way down?
I’d say that if Apple’s purpose in the world is to satisfy bloggers, then you may have a point. If it’s customers they are after, you’re missing the boat.
Jim
lomipeau
December 17th, 2008
at 1:58pm
You need to go out more.
Apple is not alone in pulling out of tradeshows. Tradeshows are expensive white elephants that do not provide the bang for the buck you think it does — especially in a recession.
Apple has cheaper and more efficient ways of getting the message out…including their own campus auditorium, the web, and Apple retail stores.
Why pay IDG big bucks when you can do it yourself? Heck, Apple is more than capable of renting the Moscone center themselves if they feel the announcement is big enough.
Also, do you really think Apple NEEDS Macworld Expo to make the same PR splash? They didn’t for the iPod announcement.
mark
December 17th, 2008
at 3:37pm
Apple has never had a good relationship with IDG (the operators of MacWorld), as clearly shown during the demise of MW Boston, MW New York, MW Japan, MW Paris.
“Killer quote from IDG chief Charlie Greco, apparently thinking Jobs needed IDG’s expo more than the expo needed Jobs: “You know how badly they want to do San Francisco,” [Greco] said. “We don’t have to let them.”)”
Based on Jobs’ personality, it’s highly plausible that such a late announcement of his absence has mostly to do with screwing IDG.
Scott
December 17th, 2008
at 8:51pm
I wouldn’t worry about the numbers that NPD comes up with. They are always so inaccurate, and they really represent interests that want to see Apple fall. It is really hard to accept their usual line of fantasy sales numbers. There is absoutely nothing wrong with Apple’s desktop sales, but there is something wrong with NPD’s false and stilted ruminations. Maybe bloviations would be a better word.
Toastpaint
December 18th, 2008
at 1:14am
Hmm, you are all right. The times we are in show a need to cut back on costs. It just seems a somewhat shame, that the way Apple communicates with * enthusiasts* is coming to an end.