News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

May 17, 2006

money

Apple’s huge price premiums just a myth?

Posted May. 17, ’06, 8:08 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Money

Laptop salesWe’ve all heard the argument that Apple commands higher prices than their Wintel counterparts, and we’ve all tried to argue that this isn’t the case when you compare similarly-equipped laptops, or that you can’t compare Apples and oranges, or any number of similar refutations we might care to offer.

But how true is the base assumption: that Macs are more expensive than PCs? Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster released a study saying that the gap may not be as significant as the average consumer thinks:

Munster said that his research shows an average price difference of only 13 percent for desktops and 10 percent for laptops, once you factor in the same components that Apple uses.

“We believe both consumers and investors tend to believe that purchasing a Mac will cost 20 percent to 30 percent more than a PC,” he said in a research note.

Granted, as CNet’s article goes on to say, while low-end Macs may be comparable to the average computer price, Macs in general still tend to compete in the higher-end of the computer market. Then again, as IDC research Richard Shim says, that “isn’t a bad thing…They often lead in innovation, and you often have to pay for that benefit.”

[via Ars Technica]


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