|
Psst! Wanna Buy a Mac? (5/30/98)
|
 
|
| | |
Apple continues its fight to improve both the quality and profitability of how Macs get sold. First, it focused on putting "stores within stores" in all CompUSAs, and then cut all of its other national retailers who weren't pulling their weight. Next up was the recent trimming of the supposed "deadwood" from its reseller list. And now, MacFixit reports that Apple is working to shut down the "grey market" Mac resellers by instituting a Searchlight Program, which encourages authorized Apple resellers to report companies that sell Apple equipment without authorization.
You've probably seen plenty of ads for grey market resellers, possibly without ever knowing that the merchandise they're selling isn't sanctioned by Apple. Anytime you see a price that looks too good to be true, you might be getting a Mac that was "intercepted" before it was supposed to be sold overseas, and consequently you might have trouble getting Apple to service it. Since that practice eats into Apple's profits while also reducing customer satisfaction, the new Searchlight Program tries to persuade authorized resellers to narc on unauthorized ones. As to what kind of "incentive" Apple may be offering its authorized resellers to turn in the grey marketers, we can only speculate. Bonus co-op marketing funds? Better prices on certain equipment? An "I Narced on a Grey Marketer" bumper sticker?
Whether or not these measures actually improve the buying experience for Mac purchasers, they are at least decent cost-cutting moves that should help improve Apple's bottom line without making it tough for buyers to get the gear they need. The next step in Apple's campaign? Only time will tell, but most industry observers expect that the catalog resellers are next in Apple's slash-and-burn campaign. Prepare to see at least a couple of those mail order houses go bye-bye, but don't worry-- we're sure there will be plenty of options left over.
| |
| |
 |
SceneLink (750)
|  |
 |
|
And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
| | | |
|
| |
|
 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/30/98 episode: May 30, 1998: Apple's going after the grey marketers by offering a bounty to its authorized resellers. Meanwhile, back in the labs, the finest minds in Cupertino prepare the next generation of Power Macs with G4's at the core, and Byte magazine will reappear in the fall once it's been "refined..."
Other scenes from that episode: 751: Make Mine a G4 (5/30/98) Sure, Apple's current Power Mac G3's are awesome machines. The thing is, they aren't really high-end systems, despite the blistering speed of the processor that drives them; they have fairly low RAM expansion limits, they come with an internal IDE drive instead of high-speed SCSI ones, there are only three PCI slots, the bus speed can't compete with those of high-end PC systems, etc... 752: Not Dead, Only Sleeping (5/30/98) It would appear that reports of Byte's death were greatly exaggerated. According to a CMP Media press release, Byte was purchased from McGraw Hill, along with InformationWeek, InternetWeek, Network Computing, and Windows Magazine....
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
|
|
