Maybe I'm still grouchy from the jetlag after getting back from MacExpo, but early-morning reading over at Businessweek.com leaves me wondering what on earth they're on. First up, BW's normally-reliable Apple columnist Charles Haddad is off on leave, and his replacement thinks Apple failed to launch a new PowerMac line at MacExpo because it wasn't "cool" enough. He thinks they were devoting R&D resources to making the new ski jacket instead.
Umm - no. They didn't launch new PowerMacs because (i) they are struggling to shift desktop systems, and launching new models now would leave a stack of expensive unsold boxes (ii) Apple's top-end processor speed is pretty much stuck for the moment and, without adding more processors, they're going to struggle to get decent speed bumps. And I can only hope the reference to resources being taken up by the Burton jacket is a joke.
The supply columnist also thinks Apple is getting too complex for its own good, as happened under John Scully. But there are big differences. First, the complexity under Scully was mainly in one area - desktop computers – and that made it difficult for buyers to work out what Apple was offering, and for how much. Oh - and too many of the machines sucked.
Second, while BW is right to point out the new Apple stores in the US could be a problem, the complexity of running them is less likely to be a problem than the high fixed costs they add to Apple's balance sheet. At a time when the market growth is all in low-cost computing, fixed costs are the last thing you want to pile on - especially when you're already selling "premium" (expensive) computers. Apple's shops get a lot of interest when they open, with long queues of people lining up to get in. But will shoppers (rather than tourists) keep on turning up? The key figures to look for will be same-store sales figures - if they are poor, the retail chain could turn out very expensive mistake. If they are good, Apple's pulled a very smart move indeed - and bucked a few trends.
Maybe I'm speaking too soon. My stab at working out where Apple's challenges lie appears in Online tomorrow, and these things never pass off peacefully...
