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I'm a (for now anonymous) manager of a long-short fund which is not open to external investors. I have extensive experience on Wall Street and in the technology industry. I look for strong trends and reasonable valuations (GARP?), particularly in the technology and media sectors. Recently, for... More
  • The Apple Mac Pricing Debate 1 comment
    Jun 9, 2009 12:10 PM | about stocks: AAPL, HPQ, DELL, LNVGY.PK

    Apple cut its laptop prices, and Sam Diaz argues that Macs are now great value:

    Of course, some of you might think that Macs are still over-priced, but these are bargain prices for the technology that Apple (AAPL) is putting into these machines - 7 hour batteries, all of that RAM and the performance graphics card. Yes, $1,199 is a bargain.

    Thought experiment: Imagine that PC vendors (eg. Dell and HP) could offer their hardware with Apple's OS for some premium over the price of the same machines with Windows.

    Now ask yourself these questions:

    1. How much more would you be prepared to pay for OS X versus Windows?
    2. How much would you care that the machine isn't Apple's hardware?

    My personal preference: I'd jump at the opportunity to buy a Dell or HP with OS X, as I'd like the option of much cheaper hardware (yes, Macs are too expensive), and I'd prefer plastic to the metal casing of MacBooks. And I'd be prepared to pay a significant premium for OS X over Windows (I'm a diehard Mac user).

    Conclusion: Apple is forcing people like me to pay more than I want to by bundling its OS with its hardware. So yes, its laptops are too expensive.

    What do you think?

    Themes: PCs Stocks: AAPL, HPQ, DELL, LNVGY.PK
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