Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!pacbell!ames!oliveb!3comvax!bridge2!ngg
From: ngg@bridge2.3Com.Com (Norman Goodger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple Gets Greedier (Read it and Weep!)
Summary: Don't disagree
	 Don't agree with you either
Keywords: Apple, Mac, Prices, Rip-off
Message-ID: <70@bridge2.3Com.Com>
Date: 13 Sep 88 21:37:28 GMT
References: <1018@lakesys.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: 3Com Corp., Mt. View, CA
Lines: 54

In article <1018@lakesys.UUCP>, macak@lakesys.UUCP (Jim Macak) writes:
>In a news release entitled "Prices Increased on Some Products," Apple announced
> today (Sept. 12, 1988) that it will boost prices, _effective immediately_, on
> most of its CPUs, monitors, external drives and printers.
> Here we sit, many of us clamoring for a more reasonable pricing structure for
> Macintosh products, and good old greedy Apple takes the opposite approach, and
> _increases_ prices!
> In the news release, Apple blames the price increases on increasing "component
> costs and changing global market conditions."
> Seems to me Apple is getting yet more greedy in its old age.  Take a look at
> the new prices listed below.  Some increases are indeed in products that
> contain DRAM.  Other increases are in products _without any DRAM_.  Boesenberg
> attempts to lay the blame on the DRAM market, even though DRAM prices have
> already peaked and have indeed fallen lately.  Besides, how the heck can one
> come up with the excuse of increasing DRAM prices when Apple raises the price
> of the AppleColor RGB Monitor by $100, or the Apple 3.5 Drive by $30?  Neither
> product contains significant DRAM (if any at all)!
> Jim -->  macak@lakesys.UUCP (Jim Macak)  {Standard disclaimer, nothin' fancy!}

While a lot of people like Jim here are going cry foul and Boo-hiss Apple, And
perhaps to some degree, rightly so, there has to be some reason for Apple do
so this and the very factor that Apple sites are very true,, being in the
electronics industry, and in the Valley here, and knowing what our own company
is doing to combat the exact same problems that Apple is dealing with, we too
had to increase prices, and reduce discounts on products. And I know that
other companies are doing exactly the same thing, many of them are. 

Sun MicroSystems also recently increased prices significantly on many of their
products, since this does not really affect the Mac user, why do we care? Its
just another indicator that Apple has some justification for what they did.
And they were, per say "nice enough" to leave the price of the mac Plus alone,
despite it being a more expensive system to produce. No one cares about this.

The Boo-hiss should perhaps come on the products that seem to have no real
reason to be increased. But on CPU's Apple is justified, did they go to high?
Perhaps on some systems, like the Mac II, but also from what I hear and read
Apple cannot meet the demand of the Mac II sales, so does this justify raising
prices?  Perhaps it does, it will allow a cooling off period so that supply
can meet demand until new CPU's are released probably sometime next year 
hopefully after dram prices have normalized. So that they will be priced
competatively. And then price reductions on the Mac II will be pretty good
one might hope.

Is Apple gouging? taking advantage? To some degree, yes, but I don't
think that all the flak that is bound to arise from this is justified.
Those reported "Industry Analyst's" are saying that this is something that
Apple has to do, and they think that the impact will be minimal. We'll see.
But Angry flames are not going to change anything, what is happening is
a fact of life. And in time the prices will fall again...one just has to
be patient....

Norm Goodger
3Com
Sysop - MacInfo BBS - @415-795-8862