Like a moth to a sizzling trend, Apple (AAPL) will fly into the netbook flame and get burned.
The firm will unveil a 10-inch touch-screen tablet computer sometime this yr, say analysts. Not only does Apple desire to showcase its layout prowess,
Office Pro 2007 Key, the business anxiously requirements a fresh hit to revitalize its pc line-up. Mac sales fell 16% from year-ago levels last month.
No question, the tablet will dazzle Apple followers who typically don't think two times about paying out upwards of $2,000 for that most current, best Mac. But beyond the core fan base,
Windows 7 Professional, Apple will discover what other Computer makers have identified for a whilst: Consumers uncover large tablets tough to swallow.
(My colleague James Rogers writes about how Apple could have respectable margins on Netbooks.)
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ),
Discount Office 2007, Gateway,
Office Professional, Lenovo all make tablet notebooks for close to $1,400, and none score properly on any recognition indexes.
There's a more eye-opening index that Apple traders should probably heed. Nine in the ten bestselling pcs at Amazon as of today had been netbooks. And only one marketed for more than $400. In contrast, the typical cost of an Apple computer is $1,400, or even the equivalent of three-and-a-half netbooks.
Apple just isn't fully oblivious on the cheapness behind the netbook's popularity; it really is just that the firm has often thought that style trumps value. The iPod, for example, crushed the less expensive opposition in songs players.
Last yr, nicely prior to netbooks became the clear consumer hit, Apple chief Steve Careers observed the route computers have been headed and started out perform on a tablet sub-notebook,
Microsoft Office Pro 2007, according to people acquainted with the growth plans.