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From: knrgroup@garnet.berkeley.edu (Raymond group)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: NeXT Positioning Problem
Message-ID: <1990Nov12.001439.19726@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 12 Nov 90 00:14:39 GMT
References: <1990Nov11.233143.10077@midway.uchicago.edu>
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gft_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes:
>...Apple's profit margins are around 50%, plus or minus (generally plus).
>And that's before their profit margins dropped with the new low-priced
>machines.

The figure of 66% I heard was from one of the books written about Apple
(perhaps West of Eden).  At any rate, the machines under discussion here are
the high-end Macs (the various Mac IIs).  These machines probably have 
even healthier profit margins than other Apple machines, since the hardware
differences between the low-end and high-end Macs is not as significant as
their prices make them out to be.  

I wrote:
>>NeXT can still make a healthy profit while underselling higher cost Macs by a
>>factor of two!

gft_robert replies:
>I'd be very curious to see the business analysis that is behind the statement

NeXT will not give you its business analysis.  However, I believe that NeXT
is selling its low-end machines at a profit.  A Mac IIfx roughly equivalent to
a $5000 NeXTstation would sell for over $10,000.  The basis for this comparison
you've seen in the NeXT thread in comp.sys.mac.misc.  

I wrote:
>>Apple never really cracked the Fortune 1000 market. It looks like NeXT is
>>starting to.

gft_robert replies:
>Uh, yeah, right...to say that it [Apple] never cracked the business world is,
>well, silly.  Particularly if you consider that the 15,000 to 20,000 orders
>Next has (supposedly) piled up "starting to crack" the business market.

Mac has cracked the business market, but NOT the Fortune 500/1000 market.
Even John Sculley admits this in Odyssey.  What I hear about the NeXT and
the Fortune 1000 companies is mostly rumor; but the rumors do seem to 
indicate that large companies are eyeing the NeXT because of its incredible
software development environment.  You see, large businesses write their
own software or hire a custom house to write it for them.  The NeXT is ideal
for this.