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Buying Best (10/14/98)
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Of course, all the great iMac press in the world doesn't help a bit if customers who want to buy one can't find one anywhere. We're not talking so much about availability problems; Apple's done a commendable job of keeping the supply flowing. We're talking more about retail presence. Remember when Apple yanked its Macs out of a slew of national retail chains, like Sears, Computer City, and Best Buy? Those stores were hurting Apple more than helping them; the few Macs they had on display were typically so neglected and screwed up, they probably hurt sales more than helping them. Unable to wrangle a commitment from the stores to do things right, Apple pulled the plug. And those national retailers happily waved goodbye, since Macs weren't making them any money, anyway.
But that was before the iMac. Back when Apple's idea of a compelling consumer system was the Performa 6400, we could see how big consumer-oriented retailers wouldn't be too concerned about a lack of Macs on their shelves. Now that the iMac has hit it big in the consumer space, though, surely those retailers are a little more interested. And since CompUSA stores aren't everywhere, it's in Apple's best interests to make sure that consumers looking for a new computer can pick up an iMac if they want to. That's why it's such great news that Best Buy will start selling iMacs on November 8th-- in time for the Christmas rush. An Apple press release reveals that there are almost 300 Best Buy locations across the nation, and they sell one out of every three home computers sold in cities with a Best Buy store. We bet a lot of those computers are going to first-time buyers. In our opinion, Best Buy was absolutely the best choice Apple could have made when choosing a national consumer retail chain to carry the iMac.
We don't have Best Buy stores over here in New England just yet, but they've just started to advertise on TV and the first stores will be opening soon. We'll be interested to see what the stores turn out like, and we're particularly interested in how the iMac holiday sales numbers will look...
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 10/14/98 episode: October 14, 1998: That black ink keeps flowing-- and flowing stronger than Wall Street expected. Meanwhile, it turns out that the iMac is snaring even more first-time computer buyers than originally thought, and Best Buy returns to the Mac fold next month, at least as far as the iMac is concerned...
Other scenes from that episode: 1076: 365 Days of Black (10/14/98) So by now you've almost certainly heard the good news: Apple not only posted its fourth consecutive quarterly profit and their first annual profit since 1995, but they once again blew away analysts' expectations... 1077: ...But Who's Buying? (10/14/98) Apple's Q4 profit wasn't the only bit of good news Steve revealed in the big event; finally, we have some more data about the kinds of people who are buying the iMac, Apple's funky blue consumer system that is largely responsible for the healthy quarterly results...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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