Apple's New G5 Marketing Approach

[jgvp]

On Thursday, August 14, 2003, at 08:17  AM, Power Macintosh G4 List 
wrote:

> Message-Id: <p05210626bb5fdd722a21@[192.168.1.254]>
> Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 08:39:51 -0400
> From: "Joseph B. Gurman" <gurman at gsfc.nasa.gov>
> Subject: Re: [G4] Apple's New G5 Marketing Approach

>
>      One can speculate on at least two reasons why Apple is beating
> the bushes: first, the stories of backlogs may have led to a tailing
> off of new orders for G5's (some people might figure they wouldn't
> get theirs until January, when price changes/speed bumps
> traditionally occur?), and Apple wants to keep those sales figures
> booming for the next quarterly report (e.g. reversing the trend of
> declining revenues from the desktop line); second, this might be
> honest-to-gosh market research, and they're trying to forecast demand
> so they can determine whether to pay top dollar for priority
> production from IBM, add production facilities, add shifts on the
> existing lines, &c.

I agree with your speculations, Joe; however, another explanation for 
the tailing-off of orders could be the fact that some prospective 
customers are in the "wait-and-see" mode and I could be counted in with 
them. There are those who are leery about buying-in on something 
radically new without the "pudding" test: "The proof of the pudding is 
in the eating." I would suppose that this comes about more now after 
the Enron debacle where lay people no longer accept corporate 
announcements as being gospel, or to continue the metaphors, they're 
inclined to "take everything with a grain of salt", and choose to make 
their decisions based on their own actual experience with the product 
or the experience of others. Act in haste........repent at leisure, 
they say.

Could be Apple are sounding the depths to ascertain the extent of this 
phenomenon. Maybe, but this could be a benefit to all involved, that 
this could introduce a spur to Apple, and others I might add, to get it 
right first time. Not implying, without the evidence, that Apple 
haven't got it right with the G5 first time around. Time will tell.