back to article Apple Flash buying clout will give it the ultrabook edge

Apple may well have the price advantage when so-called "ultrabooks" debut later this year. Intel announced the ultrabook notion - a very, very skinny laptop based on its chip tech - in June. Computer makers were quick to say they'll be delivering such machines later this year. They will arrive effectively a year after Apple …

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  1. tanj666
    Thumb Down

    Apple selling cheap? Not likely!

    I honestly cannot imagine that Apple will cut costs just because it can.

    Apple sells via snob value rather than anything else. It's a brand like trainers and baseball caps.

    If they cut prices people will rightly start to wonder why they've been paying so very very much for the brand for so long won't they?

    1. jai

      try READING the article before posting

      If you read the article, it is saying that the other manufacturers won't be able to meet Apple's current prices.

      Apple don't need to cut their costs, they keep them where they are at the moment, and they'll still be cheaper than the competition.

    2. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      I think you may want to examine the facts..

      I have always bought premium brand laptops - an upper range Sony VAIO doesn't set you back for less than a MacBook and to me it delivers a heck of a lot more.

      The next thing you tell me is that I have to pay for everything on a Mac. True, most comes at a charge, but again, if you look at what you get it's reasonable and I rather pay £10 for something that is of genuine use to me than be a cheapskate and expect the guy at home to do it for free because I'm to cheap to donate (although I would prefer to pay directly instead of handing 30% off to Apple).

      I just bought the new OS for less than £30. I can't remember a Micrsoft Windows update that cheap, sorry - especially since that ONE (1, single, uno) purchase allows me to install it any Mac under my control. I also have Office 2008 on the machine (only retained via an update - it won't re-install on Lion). Guess what? It actually comes with THREE licenses. Yes, that is MICROSOFT being so desperate to retain a grip on the market that it offers a 3 for one. Not that I use it much, I prefer OpenOffice (mainly because I find it less resource hungry, which tells you something about the MS product), but it's there. So, on the software side I can get on with less money, yet be completely legal. How is that more expensive?

      On top of that, I have a well built, stable machine that is safer from malware (not 100% safe as some people allege, but easier to keep clean), and I have a Unix (BSD) command line available which gives me all the other fun I need, although I'm not sure I'll install any Darwin ports. But I can if I so choose. Try that on a Windows box.

      I bought the Airport Extreme WiFi access point, which has a USB port (being me I stuck a hub on that so it offers me printing and disk storage). Well, I can't call what that costs expensive either, especially if you see what the thing actually does for the money.

      About the only thing I miss is the fancy graphics that a decent Linux desktop has. I very much like the cube approach to multiple desktops, and that just isn't there for OSX (between you and me, it stinks of "not invented here" syndrome). But I can live with that. And if I can't, well, the machine also has VirtualBox installed too although it would be a bit wasteful to install a whole Ubuntu setup just for fancy graphics) :-).

      In conclusion, you may want to lose that illusion of "expensive". You do actually get what you pay for.

      1. Rebajas
        Happy

        What?

        So when Apple give you a license that can be used on multiple machines it's generosity, when MS give you a license that can be used on multiple machines it's desperation?

        Also, Apple seems to constantly be bringing out OS updates, it barely seems a year since the last £30 upgrade to Snow Leopard! At least MS service packs are free :)

        Anyway, what do I care, I've got a Ubuntu desktop with snazzy graphics... :P

    3. stu 4

      Apple tax

      Airs are already cheaper than their competitors.

      Sumsung and sony equivalents are about 10% more expensive.

      The apple tax ceased to exist and 3 or 4 years ago

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Samsung?

    What about the likes of Samsung and Toshiba then, those who manufacture memory chips - surely other arms of the company get even more favorable treatment than a competitor! This surely is one of the reasons Crucial m4 drives are so competitively priced (Crucial/Lexar, owned by Micron).

  3. Pooka
    Coat

    Surely....

    You mean "Apple will have a higher profit margin over other Ultrabook makers"?

    Got my coat - finished for the day!

  4. Mondo the Magnificent
    Devil

    What, me worry?

    @tanj666,

    So, ASUS saying they won't be able to charge under US$1000 for a Core i5/i7 based unit makes the ASUS offering "cheap" in comparison? I think not, and yes, I agree that Apple kit is not cheap, it never has been and probably never will be either..

    Sony and Samsung won't exactly be a 'cheap' optioneither then... but I'd happily pay out a few extra shekels for an Apple product over any of those three for a similar spec.

  5. dotdavid

    Cheap?

    No, more likely to have higher profit margins instead.

  6. spencer

    If it's competitivly priced....

    Then I'll be both surprised and in the queue to pick one up :-)

  7. John Styles
    Coat

    Oh noes

    Apple have bought Flash? From Adobe?

  8. Efros
    FAIL

    Hmmm

    Obviously mass market devices, given their $1000+ price. [/sarcasm]

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How times have changed

      Computers haven't been < $1000 for THAT long, and they were still mass market devices. I bought my first laptop 6 years ago and it was one of the cheapest models available and it was still $600... with inflation that's getting close to $1000.

  9. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    @Samsung

    >surely other arms of the company get even more favorable treatment than a competitor

    Allegedly not - Apple pay less to Samsung for the Samsung manufactured ARM cpu in the iPad than Samsung pay for the identical chip in their tablet.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    I'm looking forward to this...

    Question is , when everyone in the world has an Apple - will we all be smug, self-satisfied prats?

    Or will the "early adopters" still see themselves as visionaries who lead us all down the path of consumer righteousness? Or will they finally realise that they're not special because of the make of phone/laptop/desktop they choose to use?

    Think I'll start running a book on this once I've thrashed out the odds.

    1. Rebajas
      Thumb Up

      1984

      ...will be just like 1984 :)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      No need to worry

      Long way to go yet, what do they have a 7% desktop share at the moment? Plenty of time for the "smug, self-satisfied prats" on all sides the Apple/MS/Linux argument, to carry on with business as usual!

  11. VeganVegan
    Trollface

    Not so fast!

    I am confident that there will be manufacturers that can find less expensive (and cheap, as in quality) parts and processes to get to the market.

    Caveat emptor.

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