FreeRange

Five Great Quality Companies: Are They Too Expensive?

kbear - excellent post and right on. It amazes me how so called analysts fail to really understand this company, its products, its customers and why they are so passionate about their products, and what the true market potential is. One area where I think you are wrong however is on lowering the margins to increase market share. Apple is forecasting just 3 or 4 pts reduction in GM, this won't amount to much of a cost savings to have a real impact on iMacs or MacBooks though - in the range of $30 - $70, which is not enough to drive sales on a cost basis. I believe they will continue with their same strategy of holding prices overall (with few exceptions) and continuing to upgrade performance with new components that cost a little more but will come down over time. Another explanation is that as component costs rise during these global inflationary times, they will absorb some of the cost increases. But not lower prices. They don't need to as their market continues to grow globally, and they have significant potential on the upside, especially with the expansion of their consumer base internationally, which will result in other Apple product sales. Apple is a growth machine in the near and long term.