[MacDV] Re: HP to rebrand and sell iPods!

[Peter van der Linden]

On Jan 10, 2004, at 1:55 PM, Kochkodin wrote:

> Why should Apple sell HP branded iPods when they can sell their own 
> fine?

Apple is not going to sell HP-branded iPods.
H-P is going to sell HP-branded iPods, built by Apple.
Apple rightly foresees that this will bring the product to an entire 
new class of user.

> If they are going to be made by Apple and therefore be the
> same as Apple branded iPods then what is the point?

Take a look at HP's desktop PC sales.  You will see that they dwarf 
Apple's sales.
This deal represents a HUGE new channel for Apple.

Let me spell out the secret masterplan for you.  Don't tell anyone.
1.  H-P is the number 2 PC vendor in the world, and they will bundle 
iTunes
2.  People using iTunes will be likely to buy an iPod
3.  iPod is one of Apple's most profitable products
4.  iPod advances Apple's agenda of becoming the digital media hub.

> Apple should buy a weak PC company like Gateway and make OS X run on 
> Pentium type machines but not on other PCs.

What benefit do you think this will bring?  All PCs have been Pentiums 
for the last 7 or 8 years.
Apple already has MacOS X running on x86, but it makes no sense to make 
it into a product.

The great value add of Apple is the tight integration between hw and 
sw.  People pay a 10-15% premium just to have it all work out of the 
box.  Compare this with, e.g. the Dell video-editing fiasco of a year 
or two ago - it was an open scandal that the Dell product simply did 
not work.  How they escaped prosecution for false advertising I do not 
know. If MacOS appears on x86's, you lose that compelling advantage.

     Peter