Filed under: Retail

Looks like they might. That's the opinion of a note out last night from Credit Suisse quoting meetings with Apple executives. The Wall Street Journal this morning quotes Senior Analyst Bill Shope as saying "While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated)."

This is a similar situation to the original iPhone launch in 2007, where the original price quickly dropped US $200 from the original $599 retail. Agitated early adopters got a $100 Apple store credit from Apple.

Apple will be watching sales of the device carefully in the early days, and the company appears to have enough margin built into the iPad to take some hits if it is slow moving.

On the other hand, if the iPad blows the doors off Apple stores in sales, don't expect any discounts soon.

Gizmodo is reporting that Apple has begun refunding up to an extra 15% of the purchase price of the 27-inch iMac to those customers who bought defective units.

The news broke yesterday with a UK-based Apple Authorized Service Provider/Reseller claiming that Apple is out of 27" screens in Europe, and they're dealing with a waiting list of customers already. So they're now offering up (to only certain customers so far, not an official policy) not only a full refund, but an extra 15% on top of the price, roughly $300 on the cost of a $2000 iMac.

Gizmodo also points out that the refund doesn't include sales tax or shipping costs, so some of the 15% covers that as well. You won't be able to make money on this, but Apple is apparently offering up a small bonus to customers inconvenienced by the issues.

Earlier this week Apple released another firmware update to address the flickering screen issues with the 27-inch iMacs but it seems that has not alleviated all the issues.

The iPad is still a few months away from actual release, but it already has publishers scrambling to be in the right place when the revolution comes. First, Amazon gave in to Macmillan's bid to raise prices on their own store, and now HarperCollins is putting the pressure on that same site to raise eBook prices from $9.99 up to $14.99 or higher. Amazon finds itself in between a rock and an iPad -- if they don't give in to publishers' demands, they could find themselves abandoned for an exclusive Apple deal, but if they do raise prices, sales will start dropping even before the iPad appears. Jobs predicted about this much last week in an interview with Walt Mossberg, saying that publishers would run afoul of the Amazon store, and Jobs would be more than happy to pick them up in iBooks.

But the real question is: how much will Apple charge? Historically, Jobs has been pretty antagonistic on pricing against content providers, only recently giving in to the first price increase in the history of iTunes. At the Apple event the other week, Jobs said on stage that prices on the Kindle and the iPad for books would be "the same," so while fleeting images of the iPad showed bestsellers at around $10 (which is what Amazon charges), it's possible that Jobs would go with the $14.99 price to woo publishers over to his side.

It'll be an interesting battle -- when the iTunes music store first opened, there basically were no strong competitors in terms of other online music retailers. With the iBooks service, Jobs and the iPad are wading into already populated waters. And while Amazon is feeling the heat of the iPad even before it's on store shelves, odds are that they're not going to go down without an eventual fight.

The weekend's almost here, thank goodness. Here's some Apple Store news to get you in a recreational mood.

First, the new Frankfurt Apple Store is set to open this weekend after a brief delay. Originally slated for December, the grand opening was canceled just two days before the scheduled date. The reason given was (and I'm relying on Google translate here because I don't speak German) that "it still wasn't completely perfect for an opening," so we assume that construction delays or other finishing touches took longer than expected. The event was re-scheduled for January 2010 without a specific date.

That mystery date turned out to be this Saturday, January 23rd at 11:00 AM. You'll find full travel directions here. Let us know if you attend the opening!

Additionally, ifoapplestore reports that Spain's first Apple Store will appear in Valencia. According to ABC.es, the store will occupy a part of the beautiful and historic building at Calle de Cristóbal Colón 25, designed by architect Lucas Garcia Cardona in 1889. The city is keen to ensure that changes made to the structure by Apple will not violate the "...the special protections afforded the (historic) building."

If you're in Valencia and notice any construction or other obvious signs of large-scale work on this building, let us know.

Did you order one of those sweet 27-inch iMacs from the Apple online store recently? Well, if you did, expect to see a delay in getting it.

AppleInsider is reporting that the 27-inch models currently have a three-week shipping time. Earlier this week, Apple's web store showed estimated shipping times of less than a week.

The delay could be due to several factors. First, initial users of the 27-inch model had been experiencing screen flicker issues, which caused orders made in December to be delayed about two weeks. Apple released a software patch for the big-screen iMac on December 21st that was meant to resolve the screen flicker issues, but many purchasers are still experiencing the problems. It could be that Apple is slowing the pace of manufacturing until the situation is resolved.

Another possibility not addressed in the AppleInsider post could be that the demand for the 27-inch iMac is reaching a new peak. The iMac line made up the best-selling desktop computers in the U.S. in the last quarter of 2009, with the 21.5-inch model topping the charts. It's not entirely out of the question that demand at Apple resellers, including the Apple Stores, is finally being met by the supply of the 27-inch model and that fewer of the machines are available for purchase online.

If you're looking for a 27-inch iMac, we'd recommend visiting a local Apple reseller rather than attempting to purchase it directly through the online Apple Store.

A teen in New York has been arrested for leaving a threatening note on the screen of a computer at an Apple Store. The 17-year-old boy was joking around with friends when he typed a note on screen promising "a bloody death" to anyone working in the store via a "bomb loaded with C4, strapped to my chest." The note was then signed with the name of one of his friends' fathers. He claims he typed it just to be funny, and then forgot to delete it when he left, but the District Attorney in Staten Island says it's no joke -- the kid faces up to seven years in prison.

I can't help but think they'll let him off the hook eventually. Sure, it was a stupid (really stupid) thing to do, and they should come up with a punishment that teaches the kid a lesson, but time in prison labeled as a terrorist seems a little much for showing off to friends in an Apple Store. Maybe they can have him do some in-store lip synching performances as a community service.

[via Cult of Mac]

Another "iPhone killer" has failed to deliver on its hype. According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, Google's Nexus One phone sold a mere 20,000 units in its first week in the market.

The Flurry report goes on to compare the Nexus One launch with other smartphones, including the Motorola Droid, which sold 250,000 units in its first week. In its comparison to the iPhone 3GS launch, however, the report is a bit disingenuous. The iPhone 3GS was an update to an existing & wildly popular product, not a completely new product launch. In that light, the 1.6 million iPhones sold in the first week of the 3GS launch, while indeed 80 times the number of Nexus One sales, aren't a true apples-to-Apple comparison.

Instead, a better comparison may be to sales of the original iPhone. According to Apple's Q3 2007 results, released on 25 July 2007, the iPhone sold 270,000 units during the quarter. The original iPhone was released nearly a month earlier, on June 29. That works out to around 10,000 original iPhones sold per day following its 2007 release, which dovetails nicely with an early 2008 analysis of iPhone sales from Ars Technica. Far from the flabbergasting sales lead of the 3GS, the original iPhone sold about 3.5 times as many units in its 2007 launch as Nexus One did in 2010; also, the original iPhone sold for a hefty $599, even with an AT&T contract, while the Nexus One is $179 with a new T-Mobile contract ($529 without).

If anything, these numbers highlight the popularity of the Droid compared to the Nexus One. Droid sold nearly as many phones in its first week as the original iPhone sold in its first month, which is nothing to sneer at. By comparison to the Droid, however, the Nexus One launched with a whimper, not a bang.

Flurry notes, correctly, that the Nexus One launch has suffered low numbers in part because of Google's "soft launch" of the phone. Both Droid and the iPhone had aggressive marketing campaigns leading up to their respective launches, while the Nexus One has had to rely largely on industry hype and Google's own advertising. Nexus One also launched directly after the holiday season, which seems like a boneheaded move; a launch even three weeks earlier could have gained them much more robust sales. Google is also sort of "going its own" compared to Apple and AT&T's partnership with the iPhone and Verizon's vigorous hyping of Droid.

All these factors aside, both the low sales numbers and criticism of both the handset itself and Google's abysmal customer support boil down to one thing: while it may be a good phone on its own merits (or not), the Nexus One is no iPhone killer.

[Via The Business Insider]

Apple is really defying gravity in this economic slump with impressive numbers. Market research firm IDC reports Apple sold about 5.6 million computers here in the U.S. in 2009, giving it an 8% market share. That's up just a bit from the previous year, when Apple had a 7.9% share, and it makes Apple the 4th largest domestic computer maker, behind HP, Dell and Acer. These numbers are preliminary estimates based on 2009 sales.

The report notes that low end notebooks and netbooks were really pushing the computer sales numbers, an area where Apple is not really competing. Windows 7 equipped computers also accounted for a strong 4th quarter in domestic sales.

Sales of computers were also up worldwide. IDC reports that the market gained 15.8% year over year. In the 4th quarter of 2009 there was double digit growth for the first time since the 3rd quarter of 2008.

Apple's 4th quarter growth rate was the third highest of U.S. PC vendors, with sales up 31% compared to a year ago. Toshiba had booming sales up 71.5% from 2008, and HP was up a healthy 45% from the 4th quarter of 2008.

So if Apple makes a tablet, will tablets count as PC sales? Wonder that will do to their 2010 numbers.

Along with the "Geniuses" and "Creatives" currently available at the Apple Store, there's a new type of employee that'll be wandering the store floors. Apple "Experts" are set to debut in about two weeks at retail locations around the country. The men and women selected as Experts will move up into what seems like a more elite sales position, with their jobs being not only to educate the incoming public about everything Macs can do for them, but to "create the next generation of Apple fans" -- in other words, sell as many computers as they can.

2010 should be an interesting year for Apple retail -- not only do they have that prototype store planned in Palo Alto, but they're working on growing some of their locations as well and trying to build up more "flagship" stores like New York's Fifth Avenue store and Chicago's Michigan Avenue location. Sounds good to us; visiting the Apple Store is always interesting, and if they're planning to mix it up even more, we look forward to the surprises.

[via AppleInsider]

While researching MacBook Pros, the folks at cmyplay produced an infographic charting the relative prices of MacBook Pros around the world. The variation is amazing.

The lowest cost was found in the US ... mostly. Certain models cost less in Hong Kong, but as the author notes, that could be due to exchange rate fluctuations. Prices were significantly higher in South Africa. For example, an entry-level 13" MacBook Pro 2.26GHz in South Africa retails for about the same prices as a mid-level 15" MacBook Pro (2.53GHz) in the US. Note that Apple does not have official representation in South Africa.

However, the highest prices were found in Brazil (where Apple does have official representation). As cmyplay notes, "For the amount to purchase a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro 2.8GHz in Brazil, a person could buy two of the same machine in the US." One Brazilian commenter noted that Brazil's import duties and sales tax, especially on electronics, is very high.

Good work, cmyplay! Your graphic is beautiful and offers a perspective we might not otherwise have considered. Make sure you visit the post to see the full image.

[Via Gizmodo]

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that Apple may be moving its store in downtown Palo Alto, CA to a new, larger space that would be "a new prototype for the company." Planning documents quoted by the newspaper describe a store that has a completely transparent facade at street level and huge interior skylights. There will be so much daylight in the stores that trees can be grown inside the building.

The store is planned for 340 University Avenue, where a Z Gallerie furniture store was formerly located (see photo at right). The architectural review board for Palo Alto voted 3 - 0 in favor of allowing the project to move forward.

According to the article, the architectural firm involved in the new store is Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. This firm designed the Apple flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, which is a huge glass cube above ground level with the store located beneath the cube. Apple has declined to comment about the proposal, and the applicant for architectural approval was not specifically named, but the architectural review board chair, Alexander Lew, says that "a lot of people have kind of guessed" that the tenant is Apple.

The developers sent the city a note stating that "The proposed store is a new prototype for the applicant. Fully half the function of the store serves to provide education and service to business as well as customer patrons in addition to product sales. The store is a commons for the applicant's community to gather."

The memo continues to say that the glass storefront "dissolves the boundary that traditional store facades create. By not breaking the horizontal ground plane of the sidewalk with opaque wall or landscape element, for example, the street is made part of the store's interior; the pedestrian is in the store before entering it."

Apple typically reports their 1st quarter financial results in late January, so we'll have to wait a few more weeks for the official word. However, the analysts have begun to share their estimates and the numbers are very impressive.

Brian Marshall at Broadpoint.AmTech has estimated that Apple sold 3.3 million Macs during the last quarter, according to MacNN. Here's a little perspective: Apple's all-time sales record for Macs, set during the previous quarter, is 3.05 million. That record was a 17 percent jump from the 2.6 million it sold in the same quarter a year ago. Marshall also suggests that laptop sales could be up as much as 19 percent year-over-year at 865,000 units.

Meanwhile, Philip Elmer-DeWitt has begun gathering estimates of iPhone sales and posting them at Brainstorm Tech. They range from 11.30 units sold (Brian Marshall at Broadpoint AmTech) to 8.17 units (Mark Moskowitz, J.P. Morgan). The interesting thing is that the low estimate, 8.17 million iPhones sold, would represent a 10.8% increase from the last September's record of 7.37 million if true.

Despite would could have been a rocky year for Apple -- Steve Jobs was out for serious health reasons and a lousy US economy -- they did very well. Are you optimistic for 2010 or waiting for the other shoe to drop?

In some more bright, shiny, and happy Apple news for this first day of 2010, Computerworld is reporting that Apple's online store took top honors for customer satisfaction in terms of the holiday shopping experience at a computer or electronics manufacturer's site.

The numbers from Michigan-based ForeSee Results showed Apple's satisfaction rate at 82%, four percentage points higher than those in 2008. The market research firm measures customer satisfaction by surveying more than 10,000 visitors to the top 40 retail Web sites as ranked by annual sales revenue.

The two closest computer and electronics sites to Apple were Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com, posting scores of 81% and 80%. Dell and HP came in at 79% and 78%, respectively, while the least satisfying shopping experience was provided by Circuit City's Web site at 73%.

While Apple led computer and electronics Web sites in terms of satisfaction, the company wasn't even in the same ballpark as Amazon.com. The online shopping giant grabbed a whopping 87% customer satisfaction rating in ForeSee's survey figures. Other companies that were ahead of Apple in the rankings were Netflix (86%) and QVC.com (83%).

The ForeSee report also notes that the biggest retailers are getting both larger and better, at the expense of smaller online retailers. The big boys on the block can offer larger discounts, free shipping and better customer support that can't be matched by the small fry.

Fukubukuro, or "Mystery Bag," is a Japanese New Year's Day tradition during which merchants sell sealed bags of various items at a substantial discount, often as high as 50%. Shoppers may get some great deals on the contents of these bags - even if they don't know what exactly they're buying. Japanese Apple Stores have participated since 2005. Once again, this year, they're offering mystery bags to Japanese Apple Store customers.

Stores will begin selling a limited number of Lucky Bags for the equivalent of $380US on January 2nd. But the fun doesn't end there. Each store will offer workshops on photography, video-making and presentations to kids aged eight to 12-years-old. Adults can share in the fun too, as a contest will be held to find the best New Year's greeting card created on a Mac. All contest participants will receive a small gift.

If you attend, let us know. Last year, a reader received an 8 GB iPod touch, a Nike iPod sensor and armband, a Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere2 speaker set, a cool, re-useable bag (above), a commemorative T-shirt and a 2009 calendar for the approximate equivalent of $384US. Shoppers began to line up at midnight the day before in 2009, so hop to it. Those lines aren't going to get any shorter.

Update: The sale has begun. Here's what one shopper received.

[Via ifoAppleStore]

While no one was looking, the Apple iWork suite jumped 50% in sales this year over 2008 levels. The retail sales analysts at the NPD Group say much of the current popularity of the program stem from the sales of Snow Leopard, which bundled the productivity apps for U.S. $169.00 for a single-user version and $229.00 for a family set.

AppleInsider quotes Steven Baker, NPD's V.P. of industry analysis, saying "These have been, I think, pretty successful products for them (Apple), generating a lot of pretty decent average selling prices and decent revenue numbers."

I really like the iWork apps. My last book was mostly written on Pages, then sent off to the publisher as an RTF formatted file. Keynote is very powerful, and doesn't have the tired old look of PowerPoint.

Apple is apparently working on moving a good deal of iWork to the cloud, and Microsoft is taking the same path with Office.

[via AppleInsider]