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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=628
17" LCD iMac for MWNY: "Stone Cold Lock" Rumor
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
July 9th 2002
No PM G4 rev coming.
MWNY press-passless ThinkSecret must be onto something: they''re predicting a 17"
flat-panel iMac for MacWorld Expo.
This, says Nick de Plume, will be the major announcement. There is no prospect of
revved G4 towers, he says, and the G5 won''t appear until ''03.
There is some evidence which puts meat on de Plume''s bones. First, the 15" iMac is
over-inventorized and too pricey. A 17" eMac is nice and pretty powerful, albeit with
a lower cool quotient and a much lower price.
Second, we know that LCD manufacturers make virtually zero, zilch on 15" LCDs.
They''re essentially not worth the factory space or the plant utilization time. Moving
to 17, 18 and 19" LCDs makes the display market profitable again.
Third, Apple''s got to lock in some serious value into its iMac range if it wants to
sell it at a premium price with reasonable margins.
Fourth, we always knew that the arm lamp on the iMac was built to hold a pretty
substantial LCD: it was just a question of when, not if.
What militates against this rumor is the cost. While economies of scale will bring 17"
LCDs down in price, will people buy the 17" iMac at the same price? Or higher than it
is now?
The bottom line is that iMac is the model line which Apple counts on to push both
volume and profitability. True, PMs, PowerBooks and iBooks have higher margins, but
generally lower volumes. The old iMac provided that continual cash infusion that kept
Apple running, its profits up, and its market profile high.
The new iMac, by contrast, is running a sprint, not a marathon. Excess demand Q1.
Saturation by April. Sales tank in May.
It better keep selling. And how. Apple can''t keep relying on the coolness of the
iBook (especially when it''s equipped with a G3) to keep baling them out of trouble
when the time comes to report quarterly revenues.
Analysis: Here''s an idea: make the iMac LCD detachable so you can attach it to your
DVI PowerBook. Or DVI Power Mac. Or even (should you be so tasteless) a PC.
Post your comments at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=628
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